The Things I Can't Say Are The Things You Need To Hear
by PandoraTheFox
Summary: If Dean had picked tails in the coin toss, he wouldn't have lost the bet, he wouldn't have hit his head on the stairs going down to get Bobby's toolkit, and he certainly wouldn't have met and fell in love with a sad eyed boy who needs saving more than he lets on. But Dean picked heads. Destiel AU with possible trigger warnings, so beware!
1. Hospital Beds

**_Author's Note: This is my first Destiel fic so I hope you guys like it. Mistakes are all mine and sadly, I do not own or will ever be owning any of these characters since they belong only to Eric Kripke and their other rightful owners. Reviews to me are like candy to Gabriel so please leave comments on whatever you think of this (just not to harsh please!). Anyway, enjoy!_**

* * *

For almost all of his life, Dean Winchester has always been one lucky son of a bitch. He's the guy who always found lost money on the street, who always won those stupid school drawings for some cheap-ass prize they mustered up the money to buy, who always seemed to find a four leaf clover just moments after he stepped outside, and who'd never heard a girl ever say no to him. Now, his baby brother Sammy may have gotten all the smart genes in the family, but at least Dean had enough good fortune that he could skid by school with mostly solid C's every year (and maybe a few D's, but his mother didn't need to know about that) and always managed to successfully pass mind-numbing classes by some miracle (that, or the teachers get too tired of his bullshit throughout the year and just pass him so they won't have to deal with him again to save their sanity).

Anyway, like he was saying, Dean was pretty freaking lucky at all hours of the day, so when his younger brother Sammy bets whoever loses the coin toss has to go down to the cellar and get Uncle Bobby's toolkit, Dean thinks he has no reason not to agree.

"Okay, call it." Sam said as he flipped the coin high in the air with all his might.

Dean cracked a smile, "Heads since that's the side of the coin where I get most of my pick-up lines from."

Sam rolled his eyes as he caught the coin effortlessly and put his palm over it, "Seriously, how am I related to you?"

The oldest Winchester brother shrugged, "I guess you finally got lucky for once." Sam scoffed but instead of replying, he just removed his hand and peeked at the coin. Dean knew his eighteen year streak of luck was threatened when he saw Sammy split into a smug grin. When Dean finally found the nerve to look down at the coin for the truth, he ultimately decided that maybe he should've picked rock, paper, scissors to determine this bet instead.

As he gazed down at the coin, he saw not the familiar head of George Washington on the quarter that was flipped but a giant freaking eagle instead, forcing him to come to terms that his kid brother had beaten him, Dean Freaking Winchester who was also known at the luckiest man on earth, in a bet that required not dorky book smarts but actual true luck.

"Sammy, I think we just stumbled into an episode of the Twilight Zone." Dean announced weakly as he somehow felt a tad bit light-headed.

Sam rolled his eyes, "And you say _I'm _the drama queen."

Dean steadied himself finally and glared at his brother, "Bitch."

"Jerk." His reply was effortlessly quick, more of a reflex saying than an actual thought out comeback. They had always swapped back these insulting names towards each other ever since Dean was just a kid himself (though back then, they at least had enough sense not to say them in front of their mother who would heavily scold Dean for his vulgar language while his father would only chuckle in amusement) and over the years, the words had gradually became less malicious and instead had a more affectionate ring to them.

Dean stood there for a moment with reluctance in his stance and finally Sam just sighed exhaustedly, "Can you please hurry up already? You know Uncle Bobby won't feed us until we get Rufus' old car fixed."

"Sammy, I'm a little busy having a mid-life crisis right now. I think you could wait to eat your rabbit food later."

"You mean existential crisis."

Dean stared at him with a confused look on his face until he finally said, "I see your lips moving but all I hear is little bitch."

Sam gave him an unamused expression that read as _'Really?'_ but still went on to explain, "Dean, you couldn't possibly have a mid-life crisis since you're still only in high school. But you could have an existential crisis, meaning that you are at a stage of development at which you question the very foundations of your life."

Dean rolled his eyes and snorted, though he was strangely proud that his brother, who was a whole four years younger than him, knew more vocabulary than anyone Dean has ever met, "Wow, you have no idea how much of a nerd you just sounded like."

Sam gave him a wry smile, "Good thing I always have you to remind me then, huh?" Dean grinned wildly at him before moving his gaze to the dark and eerie dungeon known as Robert Singer's cellar that is likely one of the most creepiest places ever known at their dead end town of Lawrence, Kansas, and his smile dropped as his nose started to crinkle in disgust.

Around this town, everybody knew everybody so you usually didn't get away with anything. Even with Dean's exceptional kismet, he usually got busted for doing something mischievous and soon ratted out to his parents. So every time something gets broken or vandalized (maybe spray painting 'Sam Winchester wears make-up' or 'Metallica Rocks' isn't the most subtle thing to put when you're Dean Winchester), he always gets blamed and is either forced into public humiliation by his parents to teach him a lesson or grounded for three weeks from ever driving his precious baby ("But, Mom, she needs regular exercise or she'll quit running." "Dean, it's a car, not a dog!").

Dean sighed heavily and reluctantly went down the squishy and molded steps down to the dark room and fumbled for the familiar crusted light switch. He found it soon after and thankfully didn't get bitten by a poisonous spider like Sam had years ago (he cried like a baby FYI, but he was only seven at the time so…). He flipped it on and instantly spotted the bright red toolbox Bobby had mistakenly left down there last week when he was trying to repair the hole in the ceiling that the mice had chewed out. "Jackpot." Dean mumbled to himself as he quickly swiped the toolkit and made his way up the stairs, flipping the lights off as he passed by.

Looking back, this was probably where everything started to go wrong. Dean was already half way up the stairs as he briefly took his eyes off of the ground to look through the toolbox to see if it still had the loaded mousetrap he had set up to get Bobby when Dean's own hand suddenly got clamped down in it. He was so startled by the snapping noise and the immense pain in his right hand that he slipped on a suspicious liquid that was located on one of the final steps and started to fall backwards.

All he remembers is hearing Sam yell out his name and thinking how he was going to kick Bobby's ass for being a spiteful bastard and resetting the trap for someone else to fall prey to the stupid trap Dean had set up himself for some petty prank.

After that, he saw a bright blast of light and everything around him suddenly going pure white.

* * *

He doesn't remember much after he passed out. All he recalls is seeing nothing but pure shining white everywhere around him. But the strange part of it was that he didn't feel afraid. At all, actually. He just remembers feeling…different.

Enchanted. Weightless. Purified. Fearless. You know, all of those adjectives chicks always put into those stupid fanfictions when two characters from a certain fandom gaze at each other for the first time and instantly feel that "connection" (not that he reads any of that trash of course….okay, maybe a little but that's only because the Avengers are badass and he will sock anybody in the jaw without a second thought if they say differently).

It honestly felt like he was flying almost. Like someone with wings swooped him up and started jetting through the sky, protecting him from any upcoming danger like some total mysterious badass. And let him just say how freaking awesome it was. _**Hey, **_Dean thought drowsily as his head continued to spin around and around, _**I could get used to this…**_

It really felt as though he was only there for just a few seconds; too early for his taste if he does say so himself. But one moment he was being carried through the air in a strong dependable embrace, and the next he was falling alone to his death. Dean tried to scream but it felt like someone had taken a remote control and put him on mute. Sure, he could _feel _himself screaming but all he could hear is dead silence, and that only made him scream harder.

He only stopped trying when he heard the most angelic voice ever heard. It was raw and gravelly, and it made Dean's heart leap out of his broad chest. The tone of the voice was gentle and melodic but it still had enough power to send electrical currents through his body. It was sort of comforting yet strangely haunting at the same time as it rung throughout his eardrums:

_ "I've got one friend_

_ Laying across from me_

_ I did not choose him_

_ He did not choose me_

_ We have no chance_

_ Of recovering_

_ Laying in hospitals_

_ Joy and misery_

_ Joy and misery_

_ Joy and misery…"_

Like he was coming back from the dead like a zombie, Dean felt himself choking for air as he sat up abruptly. The sudden brightness was extremely painful for his sensitive eyes and it took a minute for them to adjust to the highly brightened room. Once he could finally see, Dean looked around and discovered his old torn clothes he was previously wearing were replaced with a simple breezy hospital gown. He glanced around and found two IVs in his arms and a few odd machines surrounding him. It took awhile for his unsteady breath to even out but when it did, he finally came to the obvious conclusion that he was at Lawrence's pathetic excuse of a hospital where there aren't nearly enough rooms as there are patients so they normally just stuck two or three people together per tiny room with not a single thing in there except an even tinier bathroom to the side. Speaking of sharing rooms…

It only took him a few seconds to finally look straight ahead to see a frail boy with sickly pale skin humming to himself the tune Dean had heard previously during his mid-fall. The boy's wide eyes were glued to the chessboard that was sitting in his lap and it only took a second for him to realize he was being watched as he finally looked up to meet Dean's green eyed gaze. He looked no more than sixteen and despite his ill appearance, the boy was honestly one of the most attractive males Dean has ever seen (that title goes to Robert Downey Jr., though that is a hard expectation to beat) and Dean had trouble forming word as he stared into his pure ocean blue eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity of just staring at each other like complete imbeciles, a corner of the boy's mouth lifted into a half smile and it almost took Dean's breath away, "It's extremely pleasant to see you're finally awake, Mr. Winchester. You have been out for quite awhile." Dean had so many questions running through his mind but it was as though someone had stolen his voice box so he just nodded numbly like an idiot. But just as Dean's mere acknowledgement of the boy's statement, his puny excuse of a smile split into a full blown grin as his magnificent gaze shifted downward to the chessboard, "Would you fancy a game of chess with me, Dean?"

**_Yet another Author's Note: So I may not be able to update this as often as I would like to since my entire focus is on my other Supernatural fanfiction (that I haven't updated due to personal reasons that I will explain once I update the newest chapter on it) that you can find on my profile, but possibly (and by possibly, I mean definitely) some feedback might speed up my chapter updates. And before I forget, those lyrics I put in there are most definitely not mine and belong to the song "Hospital Beds" by the most amazing band ever known as Florence + The Machine (who you should totally listen to because they're awesome!). _****_But anyway, until next time!_**


	2. You Leave Me Numb And I'm Not Sure Why

_**Author's Note: Wow, I didn't expect so many people to like this that much! So, as I promised, reviews (and random inspiration since this story will not leave my head no matter how hard I try!) have motivated me to complete this more quickly than I had anticipated (which means you need to write more reviews to help speed up the process!). And just a little side note: I've never been to Lawrence, Kansas but I'm sure it's a lovely place. I'm just going to write MY version of Lawrence so all of the facts and places are probably inaccurate since I made them all up. Dean rags on my version of the town a lot so please don't get offended if you live in or around that area. I'm honored that so many people are actually reading these and really like them so without further ado, here's the second chapter!**_

* * *

_**What the hell did he just say? Oh right, chess…**_

Dean's mind was scrambling as he stared slightly dumbstruck at the boy until he forced his mouth to speak, though the words weren't exactly what he wanted to say, "Who the hell are you?" _**Real freaking smooth, Dean.**_

Despite his blunt and rude tone, the boy's friendly smile never faltered, "My name is Castiel Novak." There was a slight pause before he added, "And you are Dean Winchester in case you don't remember."

Dean's eyebrows shot up in surprise that the boy knew his name and he opened his mouth to ask the million questions that buzzed through his mind, but the boy cocked his head and went on, "Now that we have our introductions out of the way, what is your stance on playing chess with me? Though I must warn you in advance, I've been practicing a lot in here and I have already beaten Ms. Missouri twenty-six times in a row."

Dean stared at him questionably for a moment before finally saying, "Sorry, Man, but I don't know how to play."

Seeing that he hadn't outwardly refused his offer, the boy's eyes started to sparkle in delight, making it obvious he wasn't used to kids his age—hell, probably even people in general—being kind to him, "That is quite alright, Dean. I can teach you if you wish."

Dean nodded but then looked down to the needles sticking in his arm and sighed, "I wish I could but I'm a little tied up right now."

The boy, _Castiel_, frowned slight but nodded understandingly, "Yes, that is very unfortunate."

"What kind of name is Castle, anyway?" Dean blurted out, knowing he was saying the name wrong but couldn't remember how to pronounce it. Damn those stupid blue eyes and their increasing habit to make him forget so many things at once.

The boy's small smile returned and he could've swore he saw the younger boy blush slightly, "It's Castiel, angel of Thursday."

Dean snorted, "What sort of parents name their kid Castiel?" At the slight mentioning of his parents, the boy's smiled faded away and was replaced with such a sorrowful expression that Dean wanted so badly to take back his words just to see his smile again. But instead of flipping over to face the other side to ignore him, or even worse yelling (though he could never imagine such a scrawny cheery guy like to ever raise his voice at _anyone_), the boy just stared at him for a second before cocking his head and stating bluntly, "Did you know the origin of the word Thursday is derived from the Old English word Punresdaeg or the Middle Eastern word Thuresday, which is then transferred into 'Thunor's Day' in English? Thunor, or most commonly known as Thor, is a hammer wielding Norse God mostly associated with thunder and was one of the most respected deities of his time. He was also known as the protector of Mankind." There was a beat of silence, "Some people refer to Thursday as Friday Eve, which is commonly used in anticipation for the upcoming weekend. During the 1960s in the United States, if you wore green on Thursday in high school, it meant you were homosexual." Dean waited patiently to see if Castiel was going to go on yet another rant but the boy stayed silent, instead just staring at Dean with his chilling blue eyes and head tilted, waiting for his response.

Finally, Dean just lick his lips and cleared his throat, "Well, that's um…interesting—"

"Do you wear green on Thursdays, Dean?" Castiel blurted out, narrowing his eyes at him. _**Well, I do find you a complete all manner of hot so…**_

"W-What? Me? N-No, of course not!" Dean ended up saying all out once, his face reddening at the intensity of Castiel's gaze. Dean's eyes snapped to the floor as he tried to regain his cool, cursing himself for acting like some homophobic asshole when that's not what he is at all (hell, even one of his best friends is a lesbian). He doesn't know why, but there's just something about that guy watching him like he was some fascinating foreign specimen from another planet made Dean completely on edge.

It was silent for a minute (and he means _exactly _a minute because Dean counted to keep his mind anywhere but here) before Dean cleared his throat and asked, "So uh…do you wear green on Thursdays then?" He dared to sneak a glance upward and found Castiel opening his mouth to reply when the front door to their room busted open. A young girl that looked no more than seventeen stepped in with dark autumn hair and kind light green eyes that stared straight at Dean, her mouth dropping in surprise, "M-Mr. Winchester," She said when she finally found her voice, looking somewhat similar to a deer caught in headlights, "Y-You're awake."

Dean's eyes lingered on Castiel longer than he would've liked to admit until they finally found their way onto the girl and he smiled, "So I've been told. And as everyone else seems to already know, I'm Dean Winchester. It's nice to meet you, Miss…?"

"Allen," She supplied as she hesitantly walked over to him and offered her hand, "Daphne Allen. I-I was in your Algebra class sophomore year, remember?"

Dean sighed in realization as he shook her hand, recalling one of his "friends" named Alastair talking about the girl that sat behind him in his math class that practically acted like a saint who usually only dated troubled loner guys in attempt to save them by picking up the remains of their broken life and make them whole again, but once she feels her job is done, she dumps them faster than Dean could even finish saying the 'it's not you, it's me' speech, "It's nice to see you again, Daphne." He sent her one of his best smiles and like expected, she went beat red as most of the girls do. He can't help but wonder if it would work on Castiel…

_**No, you are a man, Dean Winchester. You do not wear green on Thursdays. You like women and that is final. **_Dean sighed subconsciously, not particularly feeling the energy to fight himself on the matter and just instead decided to focus on the hot piece of meat in front of him as he smiled broadly, "I didn't know they paid kids to care of the sick," He told her, keeping his tone light and flirty, "Damn, I could've made bank on Sammy this flu season alone."

"Actually, Dean, they don't pay candy stripers." Castiel piped up, getting in on the conversation. At the sound of Castiel's voice, Daphne's pupils dilated as her posture went rigid. She immediately said goodbye to Dean and went straight to Castiel's bed. She grinned widely as she asked him, "And how is my favorite little miracle today?"

"Remarkably well considering I finally have some company now." Castiel replied as he smiled up at her. His blue eyes darted to Dean for only maybe a half a second before going back to Daphne. Dean watched how freely and easily the conversation flew between the two and he started to wonder how long Castiel had been here to get so good at chess that he beaten an employee over twenty times in a row and get so chummy with a girl when he is the most peculiar and random boy Dean had ever met. _**It's probably the eyes the chicks go for**_, Dean thought to himself until something extremely important came to mind. "Um, excuse me? Daphne and Scooby Doo?" Daphne frowned at his meager attempt as a joke and reluctantly switched his gaze onto Dean while Castiel just looked at him with a perplexed expression, like he somehow didn't even get the reference. But that couldn't be possible since everyone has grown up watching the Mystery Gang catching bad guys in ridiculous costumes…right?

"Do you know what day it is, Miss Allen?"

Daphne's irritated frown evaporated instantly and a sympathetic expression that Dean didn't like one bit worked its way onto her face, "It's Wednesday, Dean."

He let out a relieved breath and closed his eyes, smiling to himself, "Good. That means I was only out for a day. I was afraid it was gonna be, like, a week or something."

"No, Dean, today's Wednesday…July the sixth." Daphne told him softly, making Dean's eyes snap open and bulge out.

"W-What?" Dean asked dumbstruck, remembering it feeling like just minutes ago he was at Uncle Bobby's when it was only the beginning of _June_ as they had just let school out. Daphne didn't reply and just looked at him with an empathetic expression, but Dean didn't have any time to be angry at her pity.

"B-But that means I was out for a month though," Dean stated nervously, shaking his head, "And I was just at my uncle's in JUNE. I mean, maybe you just got your months mixed up, Sweetheart."

"I apologize, Dean, but Daphne's right," Castiel told him gently, looking at him with an unreadable expression, "I was here when they first delivered you five weeks ago. Now, I know this may be shocking—"

"_**SHOCKING?!**_" Dean hissed viciously, allowing himself to fully freak the fuck out now, "This is more than shocking, Dude. This is insane! I-I mean, you guys are nuts! I was gone for maybe two minutes before I woke up. Saying that it's been weeks is ridiculous…" In the middle of Dean's rant, Daphne had turned to Castiel and said quietly, "I should probably report back to my boss that he's awake so they can call his family." Castiel nodded but didn't take his eyes off Dean, which only made him freak out further as he babbled on about things not even Dean himself was listening to anymore, But the slight mentioning of his family slowed his words to a complete stop.

Mom. Dad. Bobby. Jo. Ellen. Ash. Sammy…oh shit, how the hell did Sam take it? The boy practically idolizes his big brother and Dean going into a coma, something that Sam probably idiotically thinks was his fault just because he was the one who won the coin toss, would've surely killed him. And just think how his parents took the news. The images in his mind of how they all took it are completely maddening.

Even though it didn't even make sense to himself, Dean somehow felt completely responsible for their suffering and felt guilty, even though _he _was the one that got physically hurt. _**I guess my luck turned sour very fast and very bad. **_

"Dean, are you alright?" He faintly heard Castiel ask him but he wasn't able to reply back right away.

"Alright?" Dean demanded hoarsely once he finally recovered his voice, "I just went into a freaking comatose state all because I fell down some stupid stairs! I mean, my family has been going through hell for the past five weeks while I've been like the naked guy at a rave—completely useless! How the hell could I ever be _alright_?"

Castiel stayed silent for a few moments and Dean had finally shut him up but the boy spoke again, "If it helps, your brother, Sam, had spent an hour with you every day since you were brought in here."

Dean's anger finally faded at the mentioning of Sam as he laid back down and closed his eyes, sighing to himself, "That does sound like him." There was a beat of silence before Dean got the nerve to ask, "Was he upset?"

"At first, yes," Castiel replied hesitantly, "But over time, Sam began to speak to you about normal things as if you were awake instead of just repeating how sorry he was for winning something. I believe it was a coin toss or something to that degree of less importance." Castiel saw Dean's expression and quickly added, "Don't worry, Dean. Everyone knows it wasn't at all Sam's fault. He is an extremely intelligent boy. I mean, the few times we've conversed together, he revealed to be more mature to talk to than both my other older brothers combined."

Dean opened his eyes and looked over to him, "You guys talked to each other?"

Castiel nodded and smiled, "Well, sometimes Sam got tired of his and your one sided conversations and talked to the only other person in the room. But I assure you, Dean, we had only spoken about academics…and you, of course."

"Uh…that's sort of creepy." Dean remarked carelessly but once he saw Castiel's hurt and offended expression, he quickly added, "It's just creepy because I don't even know you, Dude. I mean, I like to actually meet people before they start talking about me to others."

Castiel's eyes widened at his last statement and he gazed at him with a sense of…understanding before he quietly said, "Me too."

Dean stared out him curiously for a long moment before he blurted out flatly, "Do I know you, Castiel?"

Castiel furrowed his brow as his blue eyes reflected confusion, "I beg your pardon?"

"You look around my age, you look like somebody who'd easily be the smartest kid in any class, you look like somebody I would've noticed, you look like somebody I'd _remember_…but I've never seen you before in my whole life. I mean, I've met every kid in this whole damn town and I've never seen you around _at all_. Did you just move here or have you just been living in this hospital your entire life?"

Castiel's confused face soon turned into a horribly tortured expression as he stared at Dean with saddened eyes, and suddenly Dean wanted to immediately withdraw his too blunt statements but before he had the chance, Castiel moved his gaze to the tiled floor as he scoffed almost inaudibly, "I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody, too?"

Dean's mouth fell ajar as his eyes widened in shame, "Shit, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that you were a nobody just because I—"

"Emily Dickens." Castiel interrupted bluntly, all emotion in his previous tone had completely drained away and was replaced with a stiff and numb voice that reminded Dean of a brainless robot.

"Um…come again?"

"The quote I just stated," Castiel explained to him slowly as he finally moved his forever un-blinking eyes upward to pierce through Dean's heart, "It's by Emily Dickens. She was the most intelligent and influential woman of her time period, though most people of our generations don't even recognize the name, much less her poetry." As if on cue, his head cocked to the side, "Now isn't that just mortifying, Dean?"

Dean couldn't help but let out a small breath of relief that Castiel was just quoting an old chick that rhymes for a living instead of being upset (though deep down, Dean knew his words had hurt Castiel more than the little guy would ever let on), "Yea, it's completely terrifying. I mean, I almost pissed my pants I was so scared."

"Mortifying doesn't mean scary, Dean." Castiel informed him, though his small curious smile was finally back so Dean considered it a win. Dean grinned at him but then noticed something strange. Despite Castiel's horribly ill appearance, there wasn't a single needle sticking in him or machine surrounding him; just a hospital bed with a very sickly looking boy in it who apparently wasn't sick enough to have anything done to him.

"Hey, Castiel?"

"Yes, Dean?"

"Why're you in this joint, anyway?"

Castiel smiled weakly at him, "Malaria."

Dean arched an eyebrow, "That's the shit with poisonous mosquitos, right?"

Castiel sighed and chuckled, a sound that made Dean's heart want to slam right out of his ribcage, "That's not the exact definition of the sickness but you are somewhat correct about the disease infested mosquitos causing the horrid illness." He then shrugged, "I guess that's what I get for going out into the outside world for once."

Dean smirked, "Well, I went into a coma for trying to go up some stairs to get back outside. So I guess Mother Nature is trying to screw us both then, huh?"

"It seems so." He replied with a smile that Dean totally didn't think was cute (okay, so maybe he did but everyone knows only heterosexuals have enough self-confidence in their straight sexuality and can think other manly men are cute). There was a brief pause of silence before Castiel slipped out of his hospital bed with the chessboard in his hands and moved toward him. Out of some reflex, Dean sat up and crisscrossed his legs to give him room and Castiel slid into the empty place at the foot of Dean's bed, sitting the chessboard between them. Castiel moved the several different black and white pieces to their rightful places and looked back up at Dean with a quirked eyebrow, "Would you like to start your lesson now?"

Dean felt his throat go dry at the sudden closeness and busied himself by looking down at the board so he wouldn't be tempted to count all of the different hues of blue in the strange boy's eyes, "Sounds like a plan, Stan."

"My name is Castiel." He reminded him in an upset tone, offended that Dean had forgotten his name already.

Dean snickered, "Dude, are you serious?" He looked back up to see that the little guy was deadly serious, which only made it harder to control his growing laughter.

"It's just a stupid saying, Man. Lighten up." Dean chuckled out, grinning widely.

Castiel's lips curled into a hesitant smile as he nodded, "As you wish…Steve."

Dean knew Castiel didn't understand why he was laughing so hard and it made him wonder what sort of rock he just crawled out of.

* * *

It took his family thirty minutes to get there but time flew for Dean as he watched Castiel, now exasperated, try _again _to teach him the basics of chess.

"So how come this piece gets to go to wherever the hell it wants?" Dean demanded to know as he pointed at one of the many confusing pieces.

Castiel sighed tiredly, "It's called the queen, Dean."

"Well, why does the queen get to do whatever while the king basically does shit?"

"I don't know. As you could probably tell, I wasn't around when the game was created."

Dean rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Well, at least we know what gender invented this game."

"The maker of the game is actually unknown, though most people suspect the origin was from India in sixth century based on the ancient game called, 'Chaturanga.' There's a common folk tale that says a poor old wise man created the game and had shown it to the king to prove that everyone in the kingdom was important, even the little people. It's shown on the chessboard that the king needs his queen, rooks, bishops, knights, and even the pawns to survive and conquer. The wise man showed that it was like this in real life and taught the king a lesson. The king soon fell in love with the game and ordered everyone in the kingdom to play it, and it soon spread to the Arab countries and so on. Though some scholars argue that the real birth of the game was China so it is still truly a mystery."

Dean stared at him in amazement for a moment and Castiel just furrowed his brow, "I'm sorry, did I say something to offend? I tend to do that often to people on accident. I mean, Rachel always tells me I have no filter so some statements just fly right out of my mouth—"

"How do you know all that shit?" Dean blurted out, interrupting Castiel from his nervous ranting.

Castiel shrugged as he looked back down at the board, his slender fingers thumbing along one of the white pieces (Dean's already forgotten its name even though Castiel had explained it to him for the fifth time just minutes ago), "When I'm interested in something, I tend to go to the extreme by wanting to know everything about it. When I was five, it was poetry. When I was eight, it was pottery. Twelve, it was architecture. A few months ago, my uncle bought me a chessboard and the rest is history." Dean continued to stare at him strangely and Castiel just busied himself so he wouldn't have to meet Dean's gaze. When Dean realized that Castiel wasn't going to say anything, he found himself splitting into a bright grin and chuckled, "I must say, Castiel, you are one hell of an enigma."

Apparently, Castiel wasn't expecting that reaction from him because he jerked his head up to stare at him with a confused expression, "Was that sarcasm?"

Dean furrowed his brow and quickly shook his head, "No, I mean it. Why? You never had a compliment before?"

Castiel swallowed hard but didn't look away from Dean as he continued to stare at him before replying, "Not very much so. My family believes in 'constructive criticism' and always say that compliments are something to be earned instead of throwing them around carelessly."

"Well, um…that's kind of awful." Is all Dean thinks to say as he shifted his focus on the black horse chess piece.

"It's quit alright, Dean. They do it to teach me a lesson, not to outwardly harm me."

"That's still pretty cruel though," Dean told him strongly, "I mean, my parents—"

"I said it's okay." Castiel almost snapped as Dean looked up to see his blue eyes lit up in annoyance, "I do not require any pity nor criticism towards my family from anyone; especially from _you_."

Dean was sort of hurt by his last statement but didn't let it show as he threw up his hands in mock surrender, "Right, sorry. My bad."

Castiel nodded in satisfaction and looked back down to the board, "Now, the pieces in the front are known as pawns. They can only—" He was interrupted by the door busting open and Dean's family stepping into the room. His mother had bags under her eyes that Dean had probably caused but a sunshine expression as she quickly moved toward his bed and embraced him. Dean was so focused on his family, he didn't notice that Castiel had already slipped away from him and sat back down on his own bed, glancing at Dean at his family out of the corner of his eye ever so often with a strange glint in them. His father looked just as tired as Dean's mother but there was a bright smile on his face at seeing his oldest finally awake and moving again. Sam was blinking back manly tears as he moved towards his brother and patted him on the back, "Good to see you're awake, Dude."

"Feeling pretty damn good to be back, Sammy." Dean replied in an excited tone, practically glowing at the sight of his (very tired and stressed) family again, though it felt like it was just this morning they were all at the Harvelle Roadhouse having breakfast as they teased Jo about a guy named Garth that was practically stalking her now and talking about Sammy's decision to abandon the family business (their dad and Uncle Bobby were pretty famous mechanics around this town but considering Lawrence's small population, it doesn't pay much) and had the bright idea of going to Stanford to become some hotshot lawyer.

Sam grinned back and took his eyes briefly off of his brother to look at the other hospitalized boy in the room, "Hey, Castiel." Surprisingly, the boy just nodded and looked back up at the ceiling, trying to make his staring at Dean every so often as least noticeable as possible.

All previous thoughts and curiosities of Castiel were banished from Dean's mind for his full focus was on his grieving family. He smiled widely as he saw the water filled in everyone's—even his dad's—eyes, "It's good to see that I was missed."

Dean's mother stroked his face and smiled, her perfect white teeth starting to appear, "Everyone's missed you, Sweetheart. We've told everybody around about you finally waking and we're going to have a celebration for you soon."

"That's awesome, Mom. Thanks." Dean lied as he put up a fake smile. In all honesty, Dean doesn't really want any of his so called "friends" that he's forced to tolerate in this town anywhere near him until school rolls back around when he has to and just wanted his family—including Bobby and the Harvelles both those are a given even though none of them are blood related—to surround him and catch him up on all the shenanigans he had missed when he was playing the part of sleeping beauty.

His dad saw through his pathetic façade and thankfully went to his rescue, "Now, Mary, the boy's been through hell and back these past few weeks. I think he just needs his rest for a few days when we get home."

"He just spent more than a month resting," Sam pointed out, "I think he can find some strength to party and eat some pie—"

"Did you say pie?!" Dean demanded, his eyes widening in anticipation. His mouth does feel dry and his stomach felt like it hadn't eaten in weeks (which was highly accurate considering the only nutrients he had gotten in his system had been pump into him through a tube). He could just taste his mom's famous apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream now…

"Alright, I'm ready to party." Dean told them flatly, deciding that just a sliver of his mom's sweet special kind of pastry was definitely worth having to put up with pompous two-faced jackasses that only hang around him because he's the star of the football team and everybody either wants him and/or wants to _be _him. Seriously, it's like everybody at his school think he's some sort of divine idol or something when he pretty much treats every single student there (except the few rare people that care more about him than his reputation) like pure shit.

His mother beamed and opened her mouth to reply when a smooth southern voice said behind her, "I'm afraid Mr. Winchester can't go home yet until we do a few tests to make sure there's nothin' wrong goin' on in his system." Dean leaned to the left to look past his mother and saw a heavy set dark skinned woman staring at them expectantly, her comforting demeanor was practically warming the whole room with its presence.

His mother turned around to see the woman and stuck out her hand, smiling friendly at her, "Hello, my name is Mary Winchester, I'm Dean's mother." She then looked to his dad and brother, "And this is my husband, John, with our other son, Sam."

"I'm Missouri, one of the nurses that's forced to work in this hellhole." She introduced in a serious tone, though there was a ghost of a smile on her face as she grasps his mom's hand and gave it a firm shake before releasing it. It finally occurred to Dean that this was the nurse Castiel was speaking about earlier as he briefly glanced back at the boy who had practically disappeared into the shadows. As if like clockwork, Castiel's blue eyes soon flickered to Dean and their gazes locked. Castiel only held his gaze for maybe a second before looking back down to fiddle with his hospital bracelet. Dean smiled at him but the boy seemed determined to avoid his gaze. It shouldn't have hurt him as much as it did since he barely knew the kid, but him ignoring Dean as soon as other people came into the room had strangely stung. Probably because he's so used to most people only talking to him the second others come around.

Dean looked away and put his focus back on his mom as she smiled kindly at the nurse, "It's lovely to meet you, Missouri." She then took a quick glance at Dean before settling her gaze back on Missouri, "So, when will he be able to come back home with us?"

Missouri sighed and thought about it for a moment before finally determining, "We would like to keep him over night just to be careful and if everythin' goes smoothly, like I'm sure it will, then you can pick him up first thin' tomorrow mornin'." His family seemed to deflate at this new and it made Dean's heart ache at the sight, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. It's direct orders from the hospital so he probably couldn't convince his mom to go against the professionals even though _Dean was perfectly fine!_ A little tired feeling (which is sort of hard to believe considering all he did was sleep through this whole thing), but he could probably sleep more soundly in his own bed than this rickety old deathtrap of a mattress that likely only gets cleaned once a week. Just thinking about all the people who had died in that exact same bed had given him _deathly_ chills (at least the coma hadn't taken away his stupid sense of humor).

"Can we stay here with him?" Sam asked her, wanting to stick to Dean like glue now that he's not brain dead anymore, which is really touching and all but he and Dean both know that he won't get much sleep with his family around.

Missouri sighed, "I'm sorry, but since a lot of terrible viruses are runnin' rapid around here and we have barely enough room as it is, we can't let non-ill people stay very long for fear that they might catch somethin'. But don't worry, he 'll be safe as long as he don't go wanderin' into other people's rooms."

Dean cracked a smile, "I'll try to keep my curiosities at bay, Ma'am."

"You better unless you want to spend the rest of the summer stuck in here havin' to play chess with a crazy old woman." Missouri glanced to Castiel and winked, causing the boy to smile sheepishly as a faint shade of pink colored his cheeks.

"How long can we stay then?" Dean's father asked the question that had been on all of his family's mind.

"We go into night lockdown at nine o'clock tonight." Missouri answered and looked down to her wrist watch, "Which means you have a few hours with him until then."

His family nodded and thanked the nurse as she left the room to give them privacy (well, not really that much since Castiel was there, but still). But right before she disappeared through the door, she had moved smoothly over to Castiel's bed and slipped something into his hand. She whispered something low into his ear that made Castiel nod. She smiled softly at him for a moment, as a mother would as she tucked her own child into bed, and walked out of the room.

Dean gave a quick look to what Castiel had in his hand but wasn't able to take even a peek before the boy quickly stuffed it under his pillow. Dean moved his gaze back to his family, who were watching him with dazzled expressions as they pulled up nearby chairs and surrounded his bed. Dean smiled fondly at each and every one of his family as his mom took one of his hands and gave it a loving squeeze.

"So," Dean started as he cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow, "What'd I miss?"

* * *

The three of them talked and talked for a long while about silly unimportant stuff until they found nothing else to discuss. Then they called Uncle Bobby and the Harvelles (which were old friends of the family since John and Bill Harvelle used to be hunting buddies. And after Bill died, they still remained close with Bill's wife and daughter along with their foster son, Ash) and all of them wanted to talk to Dean as well so he had to talk to them for another hour or so until it was finally time for lockdown. By the end of the night, Dean barely even had a voice to say goodbye.

Ellen, who was Bill's wife, gave him a quick hug and pointed a finger warningly at him, "You get better now, you hear?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Dean replied very hoarsely. His dad chuckled as he offered the remaining water in his bottle and Dean gobbled it down without so much as a second thought.

Bill's daughter, Jo, smiled as she kissed his cheek and gave him a huge hug, "You get some sleep tonight so we can see if I can still kick your ass tomorrow."

"You just try, Harvelle." Dean replied just as teasingly, though he knew all Harvelle girls were spitfires and could be any man's nightmare in a heartbeat (not that he'd ever admit he was a little scared of them, of course).

Ash grinned and slapped him on the back, "See you later, Bro. I'll dish the new details about Jo's lover boy later when we're alone."

"To hell you will." Jo hissed, sending him a murderous glare.

Ash smiled as he planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, "Aw, I love you too, Sissy. And we all know Garth does—" He was cut off by his own hiss of pain as Jo socked him hard in the gut.

"Okay, shutting up." He said weakly, gripping his stomach.

Ellen scoffed as she rolled her eyes, though there was a twinkle of affection in her eye as she said, "I can't take you two anywhere without a brawl." The two grinned in response as all three of them waved goodbye again and left the room.

"Just try not to fall down anymore, Kid," Bobby told him gruffly and suddenly smacked Dean on the back of his head, "Especially not at my house, ya Idgit. Your mother about murdered me when she found out I was the one who sent ya down there."

"Nah, I wouldn't have let her rough you up too bad, Bobby." Dean's dad assured him, making Bobby roll his eyes.

"John, you'd be running with your tail tucked between your legs as soon as Mary whipped out that famous frying pan and you know it." Bobby replied.

Dean's dad grinned guiltily and shrugged, "Hey, I get enough whippings from that thing as it is. It'd be nice if she used it on somebody else once in awhile."

Mary smiled as she winked to her two sons, "I got 'em runnin' scared, now don't I?" The two Winchester boys chuckled as John and Bobby rolled their eyes.

Bobby sighed and looked to the clock, "I better get goin' before Ellen leaves without me."

"Oh, I see you're taking one car together now." Dean teased, grinning mockingly as he remembered that Ellen and Bobby were kind of an item now. He was a little creped out at first when he found out four months ago, but he guessed that it sort of made sense since they were both neighbors and widows. Jo and Ash didn't mind the prospect of Bobby becoming their new step-dad since they had both grown up with the man (well, Ash was seven when he came to stay at the Harvelle household but he still thought of Bobby as one of his closest family members; as did Jo, though everyone could tell she was nervous at the chance that her real dad was going to get replaced).

Bobby glared at Dean for a moment, "Shut up." But soon after, Bobby reached down and pulled Dean into a quick embrace (which mostly never happens since Bobby ain't the touchy-feely type), "Just take it easy for once, will ya?" Bobby whispered into his ear before pulling away.

Dean smiled, "Got it." That seemed to satisfy Bobby because right after he said that, his uncle said goodbye to everyone else before heading out as well. As soon as the door behind him closed, Missouri came into the room seconds later and Dean knew their time was up. But before Dean could even say 'bye', his mother had pulled him into a tight hug and squeezed him with all her might, as if she was afraid that if she let go, he would leave them again.

"It's okay, Mom." Dean whispered reassuringly, "It's not like I'm on my death bed or anything."

"Knock on wood." She replied teary-eyed as she reluctantly pulled away to smile weakly at him. Dean gave her hand another squeeze and she finally just kissed his forehead and moved away.

His dad ruffled Dean's dirty blonde hair and smiled, "You take care, Dean. We'll be back first thing in the morning to pick you up." Dean nodded and smiled back at his father as he slipped out of the way so Sam could go up beside him. Sam instantly took his place next to Dean and threw his arms around his brother, "Just don't slip back into a coma, okay?" He whispered hoarsely, obviously trying to hold back his tears.

Dean chuckled, though the desperate tone of Sam's upset voice made his own eyes a little wet too, "You are such a little girl."

Sam jerked back as he tried his hardest to glare at his brother, though it didn't have any malicious affect because of Sam's reluctant smile that planted itself on his fourteen year old baby face, "You're such a jerk."

"I know," Dean sighed out as he ruffled Sam's mop of brown hair, "But you love me anyway, Bitch."

Sam rolled his eyes but nodded hesitantly at his statement as he, along with their mother and father, moved to the door. Missouri smiled kindly at them as she waved a small goodbye and they returned the gesture. "Night, Dean." They all called out as the three piled out the door.

"Later." Dean called back just before Missouri shut the door. With his mind finally off his family, Dean dared to look at the other hospital bed and found Castiel watching him with an intense gaze, though it wasn't as much curiosity in his eyes like many times before but of something else. Almost like…envy? No, that couldn't be it. What would Dean Winchester, whose family barely makes enough money to survive, ever have for anyone to want _his _life? Sure, his life was _okay _and all but if Dean himself had a choice, he'd pick a much cooler lifestyle like Johnny Depp's or Billy Joe Armstrong's.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Missouri making her way over to him. She fiddled with his machines and stuck more needles and tubes into him finally leaning back and humming to herself, "That'll do, I guess."

"Um…Ma'am?"

"Yes, Dean?"

"Yea, so…how do I sleep in all this crap?" He wiggled as much as he was able to for emphasis, "I can barely move."

"We're just being precautious so we know if you'll slip back into a comatose state when you fall asleep."

"So…?"

"So, suck it up." She replied flatly, shrugging carelessly as she moved towards the door and waved halfheartedly to them, "Night, Sugars."

"Pleasant dreams, Ms. Missouri." Castiel said back, making Dean jump slightly at the sound of his strong deep voice.

Missouri smiled back at him, "You too, Baby." And just like that, the door closed, leaving just the odd boy Castiel with a mysterious object under his pillow and Dean with a wide awake mind.

* * *

They laid there in dead silence for what seemed like an eternity, though the wall clock revealed it was only an hour and a half. Sure, Dean wanted to start a conversation with the boy at first, but always chickened out the second he opened his mouth. So instead, the two just stayed in a dark room in pure silence until Castiel finally said softly, "You have a wonderful family, Dean." Since he was already half asleep, Dean started yet again at the sound and it took a moment for what Castiel said to process.

"Yea," Dean agreed finally, "They're a wild bunch but they are entertaining to watch."

"They seem to love you a lot," Castiel went on, as if Dean had never even spoken, "I mean, a family that risks their health in, as Missouri had put it, 'hellhole' just to speak to you is quite…rare."

Dean shrugged, "Don't all families do that? I mean, I know they're a rare bunch of idiots but there ain't nothing else special about them."

"They are lovely," Castiel told him firmly, apparently not liking that Dean had called them idiots even though Dean didn't mean it as negative or anything, "Anyone would be lucky to have a group of people care that much about them without wanting something in return."

"What about your family, Castiel?"

He was silent for awhile and for a moment Dean had thought he had fallen asleep, but then he heard Castiel say hesitantly, "My family is not as affectionate as yours."

"You talkin' about all that constructive criticism crap they try to pull?"

"Yes," Castiel answered and he swallowed hard before continuing, "They prefer not to visit hospitals because they don't want to catch any viruses or diseases floating around in the air."

This made Dean jerk his head (aka the only thing he could move more than a few inches at a time) up to look at him, though he could only barely make out the shape of Castiel in the dark, "You mean that you've been here for more than a month and they've never visited you?"

"My parents are busy with work," Castiel answered stiffly, "They don't have any time. And my brothers…" He trailed off and went quiet for a second before clearing his throat and continuing, "My brothers are busy, too. If they weren't, then they would be there for me. I know they would."

Dean noticed his drastic change in tone and said gently, "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you or anything. I was just curious."

"It's quite alright, Dean. I would just prefer not to speak about my family members."

"My bad, I was just being pushy."

"Yes, but that's just part of your personality."

His statement took Dean a little off guard, "Pardon?"

Castiel must have noticed his mistake because it took him a few seconds to reply, "I didn't mean to offend. I-It was just an observation. I mean, from what I've heard about you from other people…"

"Don't believe anything they say about me, okay?" Dean almost snapped, "They're all full of absolute crap."

"Dean, I really didn't mean it like that," Castiel assured him, "I-I was just saying about how much good things I've heard about you. P-People seem to respect you a-a lot around here."

Now it was Dean's turn to be silent for a moment before replying softly, "They don't respect me, Moron. They fear me. There's a difference."

"I don't fear you, Dean." Castiel whispered almost inaudibly, but Dean still heard it.

"Thanks, I guess," Dean told him before sighing, "But as you can probably already tell, you're not like most people."

"Neither are you," Castiel told him firmly, even though this was the second time Dean had insulted him.

Dean scoffed bitterly as he looked up to the ceiling, "You're dead wrong, Angel Boy. I'm just one of the little people that everyone mistakes as someone important."

Castiel didn't respond. So after a whole ten minutes of nothing but silence, Dean sighed as he snuggled into his pillow, _**That's what I thought**_.

It was fifteen minutes in and right when Dean was about to let his sleepiness succumb him, he heard a hurt whisper demand, "How could you think that, Dean?"

"Because it's true, Cas." Dean groaned groggily, "Now go to sleep already." And Dean did just that, though he's not sure if Castiel followed his order.

* * *

The next thing he remembered is Missouri's voice singing, "Rise and shine, Boys." Dean crack an eye open just in time to be completely blinded when Missouri opened the curtains, letting the bright morning light shine right in his face, "Oh come on!" Dean hissed, raising his hospital cover over his head, "Have you no mercy, Lady?!"

"Oh Sweetheart, I left all of that when I had to deal with spoiled brats like yourself." He heard her say coolly and right on cue, his cover was yanked away from him. Dean just about growled at the nurse (as you could already tell, Dean wasn't a morning person) when he heard a cheery voice say to him, "Dean, it's time for breakfast." His head jerked up to find Castiel sitting up on his bed smiling at him, as if last night never happened. Speaking of last night…

_**Dammit, I'm such an asshole,**_ Dean groaned to himself. _**This is why you don't have friends, Dean, **_a reasonable voice hissed in the back of his mind, _**you just always have to act like a dick the first two seconds somebody thinks you're a decent guy.**_ Even though he knew it was true, Dean told the voice to stuff it and pushed it as far as he could away from his thoughts.

"What's for breakfast?" Dean asked, rubbing his face so he could hopefully wake up all the way and not make a bigger ass of himself.

"Gravy and biscuits." Missouri answered as she a tray of frozen pieces of bread (biscuits?) with deep brown liquid (gravy…and/or shit?) poured on top of them. Dean took one whiff of that but wished he hadn't as he had to hold back the bile that rose in his throat, "What the hell died to make this?"

"Our standards." Missouri replied grimly as she crinkled his nose in disgust at the platter. She unhooked all of the wires and IVs in his arm until he was completely bare of all the medical equipment. Then she just turned away and walked to the door, possibly leaving Dean to his death by food poisoning without even saying a farewell, "Your parents are coming to pick you up in thirty minutes, Mr. Winchester." She told him, "They're bringing your own clothes to change into before you leave here."

"Um…okay." Dean replied, trying his best to breathe from his mouth so the smell didn't seem as putrid.

"And Dean?"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

Her eyes dropped to the monstrosity that sat in his lap and advised, "I wouldn't try to bite down on those 'biscuits' as hard as you can if you want all those pretty straight teeth to last."

Dean had to stiffen an eye roll and smiled sarcastically, "Yea, thanks for that."

Missouri shrugged, "Could've stayed silent and let your mama be worried with a dental bill." As soon as she left the room, Dean rolled his eyes and decided to inspect the pile of dung before him to see if there's any pieces that look somewhat edible.

"Damn, Cas, how could you stand this shit for—" He stopped abruptly once he looked over to the boy and saw three fluffy pancakes smothered in frothy syrup on his tray along with three strips of bacon and scrambled eggs. Castiel arched an eyebrow at his sudden stop and raised his gaze to see Dean dumbfounded, "What's wrong, Dean?"

"Does Missouri have it out for me or does she just like you more?" Dean demanded once he was able to control his drooling.

Castiel stared at him with his head cocked to the side and eyes reflecting in confusion, "I believe you've done nothing to Ms. Missouri for her to hold a grudge against you."

"Dude, I'm talking about the whole freaking last supper meal on your plate." Dean told him, motioning to the culinary dynasty on his tray.

"Oh, you mean my breakfast food." Castiel sighed in realization, dropping his gaze down to it, "Daphne made it for me."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Does she do that often?"

"Most of the days, yes. Why?" He finally noticed what Dean was having for a very hearty meal and his eyes widened, "I deeply apologize, Dean. Please mind my ill manners. Would you like it?"

"All of it?" Dean asked, completely surprised that anyone would ever give away that beautiful cuisine without doing some kicking and screaming first.

"Yes, of course," Castiel answered firmly, "It's the only polite thing to do. Here, let me hand it to you." He picked up the plate and walked over to Dean's bedside. It took all of Dean's willpower not to just attack the platter but he knew it wasn't right.

"Why don't we just share it?" Dean suggested (a little reluctantly) to him.

Castiel quickly shook his head as he swapped the plates, "No, that wouldn't be right. I mean, you are kind of a guest."

"Cas, you don't live here either…right?"

"No," He had admitted hesitantly, "I've just been here awhile and it's been more of a home than—" Cas stopped himself in mid-sentence and closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and smiling (though it seemed forced), "But anyway, it just wouldn't feel right considering that you've lost precious weeks of your life. Besides, your first meal back to real civilization should be memorable."

"Cas," Dean began tiredly as he sat up and crossed his legs so he could give Cas room, "Just get into this bed before I drag you in myself." After hearing his own words, Dean's face heated up in embarrassment as he quickly added, "N-Not like that, of course—"

"Dean, we've already established you 'don't wear green on Thursdays.' It's okay." Castiel assured him before is eyes zeroed in on the foot of Dean's bed, "Now are you sure you want to share—"

"Yes, Cas. I'm sure." Dean confirmed, nodding his head as he took the 'biscuits and gravy' out of the boy's hands and laid it on top of the nearby chair his brother had sat in the previous night. Cas sighed and hesitantly sat down, putting the tray of food between them. Dean smiled as he took one of the plastic forks and sawed every food item in half, "Good. Now eat up." Cas followed suit and started to eat; Dean did also. So it was quiet for the first five minutes.

"I'm sorry about last night." Dean said finally, looking up from the tray of food to gauge Castiel reaction.

Castiel furrowed his brow and shrugged, "Why?"

"I was a big bag of dicks to you and I'm sorry." Dean told him shyly, wondering why Castiel was making him say it _again_ when he'd much rather put the embarrassing incident passed them.

Castiel finally looked up and there was pure confusion reflecting in his eyes, "Dean, you didn't do anything wrong. I clearly provoked you and you reacted like any normal human being would."

"Are you seriously saying this was all _your_ fault?" Dean demanded, not entirely believing what he was hearing.

Cas shrugged, "But of course. And I deeply apologize for saying those things toward you, Dean. Now, may we please continue our feast?"

"Cas, it was my fault." Dean told him strongly, not understanding why Castiel just couldn't accept his apology and get over it.

"No, it was not."

"Yes, it was."

"Was not."

"Was to."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Dean, stop being stubborn and eat the rest of your egg."

"_Dammit, Castiel!_"

"Fine!" Cas finally said exasperatedly, running a hand through his black hair, causing it to stick up and Dean couldn't help but notice how ridiculously adorable it looked, "It was all your fault, alright? Now can we _please _dine in peace?"

Dean smirked smugly as he stabbed his last bite of scrambled egg with his fork and plucked it into his mouth, "Let's."

* * *

"So are still contagious?" Dean questioned as he watched Castiel eat the remaining pieces of his food.

"Excuse me?" Castiel asked with a quirked eyebrow as he put a half strip of bacon into his mouth.

"You know, from your Malara."

Cas stared at him blankly for a few seconds before his eyes lit in realization, "Oh, you mean Malaria. No, since I am already mostly over it, I cannot spread it to anyone else. You have nothing to fear."

Dean snorted, "Like anyone could ever be afraid of a scrawny guy like you."

"I suppose I am a little frightening," Castiel replied, shrugging as he stuffed the last bit of his own share of the egg into his mouth before continuing, "I mean, why else would the rest of the human population keep avoiding me at every chance they get?"

Dean's eyes widened and he didn't know what else to say (are you supposed to go '_Oh, I'm sorry everyone thinks you're a total freak. If it means anything, you're only a tad bit weird and creepy to me'_?), so he just sat there quietly while Castiel finished eating. Cas didn't seem at all fazed by what he said and just practically stated it like it was a known fact, which Dean found sort of sad.

"Hey, Cas?" Dean said finally as he watched Castiel climb back into his own bed.

"Yes?" He asked as he slid into the covers and propped an elbow up to look at Dean.

Dean licked his lips nervously, _**It's now or never…**_

"My parents are throwing this lame party at my house tonight to celebrate me basically coming back from the dead…" He trailed off, hoping Cas would get the hint. _**Dammit, Winchester, stop acting like a flustered thirteen year old girl and be a man.**_

Cas, who was apparently oblivious to what he was getting at, nodded, "That seems pleasant. Are you excited?"

"Um, not really." Dean answered timidly, looking down to the tilted floor. Dean swallowed hard and finally gained enough confidence so he said all in one breath, "I was just wondering if you wanted to come, maybe…?"

Cas' eyes widened, like he actually didn't see his offer coming (and he probably didn't considering it was someone as odd as Castiel), "Me?"

"Yea," Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Castiel's eyes narrowed suddenly and his body became rigid, "If this is a prank, I can assure you that it is not at all humorous."

"Why would you ever think I would do that?" Dean demanded, offended that Cas could think he was cruel enough to pull such a trick.

Castiel blushed in shame as he ducked his head, "My apologies, I-I guess I'm just so used to all of the malicious 'jokes' that my brother pulls on me."

Dean was appalled that someone's own flesh and blood would actually be that mean (sure, he plays a lot of pranks on Sammy all the time but they aren't as cruel as it is annoying), "Man, that's just heartless."

Cas swallowed hard before nodding numbly, "That's what I say, but then he just calls me a big baby and storms out of the house. H-He usually doesn't come back for a few days after that."

"That's just fucked up, Cas." Dean decided, not liking this guy one bit, "He's the freaking baby if he leaves the house just because of that."

"I don't think it's personal," Castiel told him softly, eyes dropping to the floor, "He usually takes any excuse to get out of our dysfunctional household. And he usually comes back with a gift for me to say he's sorry, so it's okay. H-Honestly, he's the only sibling that I'm s-sure I lov—" Castiel stopped abruptly and started to shake his head violently, "N-No, forgive me. I-I didn't mean that. I love a-all my siblings e-equally." He took a shaky breath and looked back up to Dean with sudden wet eyes, "I-I don't w-want to talk a-about this anymore, D-Dean."

"It's okay, Cas. We don't have to talk about it." Dean told him softly, green eyes piercing his.

Cas nodded as he took a deep breath before plastering a smile on his face, "Now what were you saying, Dean?"

It took Dean a moment to even remember what they were talking are before this episode happened. But thankfully, he remembered and quickly changed the subject, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to my party tonight. Hell, you'd probably be the only one other than my family that I actually want there."

For a moment, it looked like he was going to say yes and Dean almost shrieked in joy (he honestly thinks that while he was out, the doctor may have accidentally gave him a vagina with all of these girl emotions bubbling around), then it looked as though Castiel had remembered something and his gaze lifted to the ceiling as he took in a shaky breath, "I really shouldn't."

"Why not?" Dean couldn't help but demand.

"Because I don't belong there," Cas stated flatly, closing his eyes and sighing, "And if Naomi found out I snuck out of the hospital's care, she would be an absolute nightmare."

"Who the hell is Naomi?"

"Nobody." He replied a little too quickly as his eyes snapped open, obvious fear in his voice.

"Cas—"

"You said we didn't have to talk about it." Cas reminded him, a small smile appearing on his face as he looked Dean in the eye. Dean wanted to say screw what he said and demand to tell him but Dean refrained himself. He did promise not to talk about it and he couldn't take that back now.

"You're right. I forgot. No talking about families, though it's perfectly fine for you to ask everything about _mine_." Dean teased instead as he mustered up a lazy smile.

Cas smiled teasingly at him, "That is correct."

There was a brief moment of silence before Dean hopelessly tried again, "Are you sure—" He was cut off by the door opening. Castiel and Dean jerked their heads to the direction of the door and saw it was only Dean's family. His mother had his favorite Metallica shirt and a pair of old jeans in her hands as she stood in between Dean's dad and brother. She smiled, "Are you ready to go, Sweetheart?" _**Dammit, Mom. Can't a perfectly straight man ask out another perfectly straight man without any interruptions?**_

Dean hesitated for a moment before reluctantly answering, "As ready as I'll ever be." He hopped out of his bed and collected his normal clothes before walking off into the bathroom for some privacy. He quickly changed out of the stupid revealing hospital and changed into something that wouldn't show all his private parts in a random gust of wind, all while thinking of ways to convince Cas to break out of his shell and for once actually have some fun…with him. Yes, two obviously heterosexual men (and he's pretty sure Castiel is straight too since he flirted right on back to that Daphne chick and she already cooks him breakfast daily so they're practically married now—not that Dean cares what goes on between them because _Dean is not gay!_) hanging out together at a party. And hey, maybe Dean could show Cas his bedroom and _accidentally_…

_**No, don't think of him that way. You are going to bring that Bela Talbot bitch to your room and make out with her, and you are going to like it…after having some male bonding with Castiel first, like any non-gay, heterosexual male would with his other perfectly straight (and sort of attractive) male friend in a totally non-homosexual way.**_ _**Because you don't like Castiel that way. **__But—__**Shut up, no you don't.**_

When he was finally done changing and settling the inner battle within himself, Dean stepped out of the bathroom and finally felt like himself again. He smiled at his overjoyed parents and little brother before announcing, "I'll meet you guys outside. There's something I need to do before we leave." His mother seemed hesitant to leave her son's side more than she has to but his father put an arm around her and led her out, "Come on, Mary. He ain't gonna make a jailbreak the second you turn your back."

Sam didn't move from his place and looked at him so curiously that Dean had to roll his eyes, "Scram, Brat. I gotta talk to Cas for a minute," When Sam still didn't move, Dean added, "_Alone._" Sam shot him a dirty look before backing away slowly and closing the door after him, leaving Dean and Castiel finally by themselves.

Dean groaned, "I hope they stop smothering me soon. I mean, I can't keep up my bad boy image with my mommy hanging on my coat tail." When Cas didn't answer, Dean turned around and saw Cas was just watching him intently with his head tilted to the side. If Dean had a dollar for every time that kid did that in just _two days_…well, let's just say his family wouldn't be struggling with the bills anymore.

Dean sighed, "Dude, do you _ever blink_?"

"Every human has to blink, Dean." Cas deadpanned, though there was hint of teasing in his tone as a ghost of a smile started to surface on his face.

Dean rolled his eyes but chose not to comment as he crossed the room and sat on Castiel's bed. He tried to ignore the way Cas' body tensed up instantly as soon as he sat down but it still hurt. He didn't let his wounded feelings show as he smiled, "So..." Wow, he didn't think he'd get this far without any annoying interruptions from his family. _**Damn, I am so screwed. **_

Castiel seemed to notice his floundering for words so he reminded him gently, "You told Samuel that you needed to speak with me."

Dean nodded, "Right, but first of all: Samuel? Really?"

"That is his name, is it not?"

Dean sighed and scratched the back of his head, "Well, I guess so but the only people who call him that are, like, teachers." Cas looked like he was going to retort but Dean knew he didn't have much time before his father would send Sam to go get him, so he just decided to cut to the chase, "So, are you sure you can't some tonight? Like, not even for a minute?"

Cas sighed tiredly and sadly shook his head, "I'm sorry, Dean, but I cannot."

"Well, can you at least _try_?" Dammit, now he's sounding like some clingy girlfriend (and trust him when he says he knows how they sound like; he's had a ton of them in the past).

Castiel paused for a moment, as if trying to decide something, and Dean dared to hope for the best as Cas sighed out, "As you wish. But I don't understand why you want me there at all. I mean, you'll probably have a dozen of more interesting people there. I cannot guarantee I will be the life of the party."

Dean grinned widely as he slapped him on the back, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Cas." And before Castiel could protest, Dean had swiped one of the sharpies off of one of the nearby nightstands and grabbed Castiel's hand. Lightning shot through him as soon as Dean's finger tips touched the boy's pale skin and it took Dean a moment to concentrate back on his task. With shaky fingers, Dean messily scribbled his address onto the boy's palm and reluctantly released him. When he looked up, Dean saw Castiel had wide eyes as he looked back and forth between Dean and his now marker stained hand. Seeing that it wasn't a look of (absolute) horror, Dean grinned cheekily at him and got up from the bed. He moved to the door but stopped when he finally heard Castiel's small voice, "Um…Dean? About what you said last night…"

"Water under the bridge, Cas," Dean interrupted in a flat tone, knowing where he was going with this, "I said some things I shouldn't have but it doesn't make them any less true." He thought Castiel was going to press him more but thankfully he didn't. So Dean opened the door and glanced at Castiel one last time before finally leaving the room, slamming the door shut with one loud thud.

When his father pointed out that Dean had a bounce in his step as he got out of the car to go set up for the party, Dean pretended not to know what on earth he was talking about.

* * *

All night. All fucking night Dean suffered though endless conversations with pompous morons, always staying near the door in case Cas tried to sneak in without Dean noticing. But Castiel never came.

Dean wasted the whole night waiting for some douchebag that didn't even pop in to say hi. It's beyond stupid, but Dean kinda feels like a girl getting stood up: angry, hurt, confused…ready to kill (no, he's totally kidding about that part). "Did you like the party, Sweetie?" His mother asked as she, Dean, Sam, and John tried to pick up the trash left by the carelessly messy teenagers.

Dean smiled, "I loved it, Mom. Thanks."

It took them a whole two hours to pick and clean everything up (thankfully, nobody puked on the carpet like last time) and when they were finally done, Dean said goodnight to Sam and his parents and trotted upstairs to go to his room.

As soon as he opened the door though, he automatically noticed his window was open, letting the cool night breeze whip through the room and send shivers down his spine. "Dammit, Sam." Dean grumbled to himself, thinking it was his kid brother since Sam liked to go through all of Dean's stuff when he wasn't there. He thinks Dean doesn't notice but it's kinda hard to miss when everything in your bedroom has been moved. But upon further inspection, Dean noticed that nothing else seemed to be touched except the window, which he thought was a little weird but didn't think much of it since it wasn't much of a big deal. So when he closed the window and made his way into bed, he almost didn't notice the small wooden chess piece sitting on his nightstand. Dean furrowed his brow as he swiped it up and inspected it thoroughly. _**No, it couldn't be…I mean, I watched the door like a hawk. Cas couldn't have possibly—**_

Then he remembered the window being open and it filled him with even more curiosity. Dean moved to the window and opened it again before sticking his head out into the cold night and looking down. His room was on the second floor, more than fifteen feet high from the ground. So how could a small delicate guy like Castiel scale their house and climb in and out of it without anybody noticing him?

Dean smiled to himself and glanced back at the nightstand, only to notice a perfectly folded white piece of paper right where he had found the chess piece. Dean swiped it up instantly and discovered the words written in neat beautiful handwriting:

_'Everyone is important, Dean Winchester. Even the little people.' _

Dean's hands started to shake as he didn't know whether to feel creped out or flattered. But between you and him, it was definitely the ladder.

**_Author's Note: So I hope you guys were disappointed with this fresh installment and let me know what you think of it in the review area. And since I had added a little tidbit of music in the last chapter, I'd also like to say that the last part of this chapter along with the chapter title were inspired by the song called "Spitting Games" by yet another awesome band known as Snow Patrol. I'd like to know if you guys want me to continue to let songs from my music library inspire future chapters as well as their titles. But, until next time!_**


	3. The Answer Is In The Silence

**Author's Note: Thank you guys for all of the nice and interesting reviews as well as all of the favorites and follows. They honestly mean the world to me! To girlreadsalot: Thank you for reviewing and I know the last chapter was really freaking long and I had originally planned for it to be A LOT shorter but it didn't really turn out that way in the end (I tend to ramble a lot when I write. This being the perfect example). I tried to make this chapter shorter (failing miserably, by the way) and this may be one of my favorite ones so far since it gives you unexpected answers and finishes off with a cliff hanger (It's my evil plot to make you stick around for the next chapter) so I hope you guys like this. But anyway, carry on reading! Important Side Note: This takes place a month or so after the last chapter.**

* * *

"Dean, wake up! It's time to go to school!" Sam's obnoxiously loud voice ran throughout the house and blasted through Dean's eardrums.

Dean groaned and buried his head deeper into his pillow, "No, I'm sick…I think I need complete and total bed rest for the next ten months until the next summer vacation." He tried to drift back into pure sleeping bliss but the thud of footsteps getting increasingly louder kept him somewhat conscious. He heard his bedroom door slam open and he didn't even have to crack one eye open to know who it was. "Dean, seriously, I don't want to be late."

He sighed as he reluctantly opened his eyes and saw his brother standing beside his bed in his usual dorky attire, "Sammy, relax. It's just high school, not one of your freaking dance recitals. They really don't care if you're late." He closed his eyes again and relaxed before he added, "Who's your first period anyway?"

"Mr. Azazel."

Dean's eyes snapped open and he sat abruptly at the name, "Oh shit."

Sam's eyes got as wide as saucers, "What's wrong?"

"Dude, he is going to crucify you if you're late on the first day. Learned that the hard way, My Friend."

Sam's mouth fell open, "W-What?"

Dean couldn't hold back his amused chuckle as he got out of bed and threw on a plain black tee-shirt that smelled (mostly) clean, "I'm just messing with you, Sammy. Lighten up." He paused for just enough time for the tension to leave Sam's shoulders before he added, "He'll only lock you out of the room if you're not in there on the dot." The way Sam's slightly relaxed expression turned into complete and total terror as he bolted out of Dean's room to get everything ready was almost enough to make him excited to go back to school just to watch his brother scramble around in the hallways and actually believe every lie Dean tells him (but he wasn't kidding about Mr. Azazel locking you out if you're not in class on time. That guy's a total dick). But of course, that small fleeting positive emotion was soon demolish once he remembered he had to pretend like he actually gave damn about anything (school related, that is). Even though Sammy had big dreams about leaving this town in the dust for something much greater, Dean wasn't that stupid. Sure, he had no doubt that Sam could do it (the kid's as smart as Dean is good-looking), but Dean knew he was just kidding himself if he ever believed that he could do anything more in life than fix cars at his Uncle Bobby Garage Shop and eat his mom's apple pie until he dies (sounds like a pretty good lifestyle to him).

Dean pulled on a pair of blue jeans and made his way down the stairs. He wished his mom was home so they would've had an actual breakfast but she pulled an extra shift at the Harvelle Roadhouse to earn a few extra bucks so Dean and Sam were on their own for today. Dean swooped up an already opened bag of Funyuns and started to eat while his younger brother darted around the house to try to get everything perfect for his first day of high school.

"Sammy, stop powdering your nose and come on!" Dean called out after him as Sam had moved into the bathroom for the fifth time.

"Bite me, Dean!" He heard Sam snap back but he did come out only a minute later.

Dean moved to the wall and grabbed his dad's old hunting jacket from the clothes rack, putting it on even though it was already a humid morning in the beginning of the month of August. Dean passed by Sam on his way to the door and threw him the bag of chips, "Don't forget to eat your vegetables, Sammy." Sam rolled his eyes and took only a couple chips before following Dean to the door. Ever since Dean got his license two years ago, his dad gave him his old '67 Chevy Impala and just rides carpool with Bobby to work, and Dean's been driving himself and Sam to school since then. But instead of dropping Sammy off at middle school this year, he gets to hang out with the big dogs and endure the worst four years of his life.

Sam closed the door behind him and went to climb into the passenger seat of the Impala. Dean got into the driver's seat and started the car before turning the radio onto one of his favorite Led Zeppelin songs. Sam groaned in protest, "Can we _please _listen to music from _this _century?"

"House rules, Sammy," Dean answered cheekily as he pulled out of the driveway, "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake-hole."

"You know," Sam drawled out, glancing over to him, "'Sammy' is a chubby twelve year old. It's just Sam now, okay?"

Dean snorted, "Well, look-y here, big shot high school student thinks he's Big Kahuna now."

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes, "Just turn the greatest hits of mullet rock down and keep focused on the road."

Dean shrugged as he cranked his stereo all the way up, "Sorry, can't hear you. The music's too loud." Sam groaned again in embarrassment as his older brother belted out the lyrics to "Ramble On" with all his heart and soul.

* * *

The drive to school was filled with more mockery, insults, and death threats but that was always a normal ride for the Winchester family.

Look, Dean always loved to tease Sam A LOT, but when he saw his kid brother twisting and turning in his seat and chewing his bottom lip completely off as the Impala rolled to a stop in the school's parking lot, his voice softened as he bumped Sam's shoulder lightly, "Hey, don't worry about it. We have at least ten minutes left to get to Mr. Big Bad Wolf's class."

"It's not just getting there on time that's bothering me, Dean." Sam told him reluctantly, keeping his eyes firmly locked onto the dashboard to avoid Dean's gaze.

He sighed, "Then what's bothering you, Sammy?"

Sam hesitated but finally switched his gaze to Dean and asked quietly, "Is high school really that bad, Dean?"

Dean swallowed hard and began reluctantly, "No—"

"Don't lie to me, Dean. I'm not a little kid anymore." Sam cut him off, his green eyes flaring in annoyance and determination, "Mom and Dad can lie to me all they want, but not you."

He sighed miserably, "So you want the truth?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Dean said as he got out of the Impala and slammed the car door shut, Sam following suit, "High school sucks ass, Sam. It's full of fakes, liars, cheaters, and backstabbers that'll sell you out in a heartbeat just for the title of homecoming queen. The best thing you can do is keep your head down and don't trust anybody until I give them the green light."

Sam sighed as he and Dean walked side by side into the school building, "But what if—"

"Sammy, you follow my rules and you'll make it out alive, okay?" Dean interrupted abruptly as he started to fast walk, not wanting Sam to be late and endure the wrath from Mr. Stick Up His Ass that already has a particular hate for Winchesters (apparently, he used to date their mom, Mary, in high school until their dad, aka the high school drop out without a penny to his name, blew into town and "stole her away from him").

Sam scoffed as he and his brother dodged all of the bustling students racing to get to class on time, "Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

Dean let out an exhausted sigh, starting to get sick of Sam's constant badgering, "Because I'm the oldest…which means that I'm always right."

Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head, "No, it doesn't."

Dean snorted as he took hold of his younger brother's wrist and started to lead him to Mr. Azazel's room, "Yeah, it totally does."

When they finally made it to their destination, Dean noticed Sam's overly neat and nerdy look and tsked as he had to ruffle his brother's mop of brown hair and untuck his shirt out of his pants, "Dude, did _Mom _lay this out for you?" When he saw Sam turned as red as a tomato, Dean groaned, "Seriously, do you _want _to be labeled as the Steve Urkel look-alike for the rest of the year?"

Sam shot him a dirty look and slapped Dean's hands away, "Shut up."

Dean smirked and rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Poindexter. Just meet at the Impala right after the last bell so we can get the hell out of here as fast as we can, alright?"

Sam nodded and looked to the wall clock, his face instantly turning guilty as he glanced back at his brother, "Dean, I think I'm going to make you late."

"Nah, my homeroom is just down the hall." Dean lied effortlessly, knowing his first period classroom was actually on the whole other side of the school. Sam didn't look completely convinced but he didn't press him any further as he said goodbye to Dean and turned toward the door. He hesitated on touching the doorknob and for a moment Dean had thought Sam had just forgotten something (which sounded impossible because of the huge ass backpack he was hauling around because he insisted that "he was going to need all of it." Did Dean ever mention he was a typical freshmen?), but all thoughts of that were banished when Sam abruptly turned around and threw his arms around his brother, trapping him in a tight embrace. Dean rolled his eyes but wrapped his arms around his little twerp of a brother that was trying to ruin his fearful and bad boy reputation, "Sammy, what have I always told you about chick flick moments?"

Sam laughed as he removed himself from Dean, though there was still a twinkle of nervousness in his eyes, "You're a jerk, you know that?"

Dean sighed and shrugged, "Beats being a whiny little bitch." Sam tried to glare at him but his small smile gave him away as he reluctantly waved goodbye and disappeared into the classroom. Dean was determined not to break out into a goofy grin that wanted so desperately wanted to surface as he turned to the direction of his own classroom and took one step forward…then the bell rang. "Of course," Dean said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "Because why would anything ever go right for me?" With a heavy sigh, Dean walked slowly down the now barren hallway and foolishly hoped his new teacher wasn't as much as a dickwad as everyone else claimed he was.

* * *

Turns out, his teacher's not; he's much, much worse.

Sure, Dean had expected for him to be maybe a little pissed off when he popped into the classroom and plopped down in an empty desk without even uttering a single excuse, but he didn't expect the asshole to _throw him out of class seconds after he sat down! __**Stupid freaking Mr. Henriksen, **_Dean mentally cursed harshly through his haze of absolute fury and humiliation as he stomped down the hallway on his way to the principal's office, _**just because he used to be some big bad FBI agent doesn't mean he can be an unfair tyrant—**_

"On the first day again, Mr. Winchester?" The vice principal sneered as he passed Dean on his way out of the principal's office.

"Bite me, Zachariah." Dean hissed back before he even knew the words had slipped from his mouth. He can usually hold back his snippy remarks and malicious feelings for the little devil (though everyone in this naïve town think he's some sort of freaking angel), but he's too pissed off to enable his self-control. Zachariah noticed his off behavior and raised one of his big white eyebrows (one of the few places he actually has any hair) at him, "Bad tempered already, Dean? Funny, I always thought your period schedule started in the middle of the semester." Dean knew the old bastard was having fun berating him and it started to piss him off even further. He took a step forward and blocked the vice principal's path, "You know what, Zachariah? Fu—"

"Not finishing that sentence would be wise, Mr. Winchester." An unknown older female voice advised from inside the office, causing Dean to get slightly confused. _**Is Ms. Eve having a board meeting or something—**_

The question was banished from Dean's mind as a middle aged woman with dark auburn hair tied into a tight bun stepped out into the hall wearing a flashy metal nametag saying in big proud letters: NAOMI TAPPING, PRINCIPAL. Dean furrowed his brow and stepped away from Zachariah to further inspect the woman, "Um…who the hell are you?"

"Oh congratulations, Mr. Winchester," The woman, _Naomi Tapping_, said with a soft smile, though her eyes were as cold as the icy water Dean's mom pours on him when he won't get out of bed in the morning, "You will be the first student here to let me demonstrate our new policy."

Dean arched an eyebrow, "And what policy would that be, Sweetheart?"

"No cursing allowed," She answered before leaning into him and whispering darkly, "And it's Ms. Tapping to you, _Dean_." He felt a strange shot of fear run through him (which is sort of odd since the only girls who could do that is his own mother and the Harvelle women) and he felt himself nodding numbly. Ms. Tapping's smile reappeared (though this time it was more unforgiving and slightly fearful than from actual cheerfulness) as she opened the principal's door fully and looked back at him, her blue eyes twinkling with delight, "Why don't you come on in and let's talk about the little stunt that you pulled in American History today with Mr. Henriksen." Before Dean could even think for himself, his legs started moving robotically and forced him to sit down on one of the chairs facing her desk. He inspected the principal's desk and found that the name plaque that sat at the edge of the desk did not say 'Ms. Eve' like it was supposed to but instead read as 'Ms. Tapping' and Dean suddenly had the urge to vomit.

Ms. Eve had always tolerated Dean, even when he would sometimes be sent to her office a few times a day. Whenever he got into a fight, Ms. Eve would still follow her usual protocol and find out exactly what had happened before handing out certain punishments. She was also very protective of her students as though they were her own children and she would take on the King of Hell himself for them. Everybody in school adored Ms. Eve, even the troublemakers that she put into detention until five every day. So why the hell would she ever get fired?

"Where's Ms. Eve?" Dean asked bluntly, clinging to the hope that she was just at home sick and this Tapping chick was just a temporary substitute.

Ms. Tapping's smile that she gave Dean seemed way too happy as she brightly stated, "The board had ruled that Ms. Eve was playing extreme favoritism and being inappropriate to certain students, so she was let go." Dean had thought that it couldn't possibly get worse but of course this woman loved to prove him wrong, "Then I had graciously stepped down from my position as head chairmen and volunteered to take her place to finally start to whip this place into shape."

His throat suddenly felt like sawdust as he croaked out hesitantly, "That's just…awesome."

Ms. Tapping noticed his slightly upset expression and nodded condescendingly, "Yes, I would assume that you would feel that way considering you were among one of her favorite…_students_ and did several certain _favors_ for her—"

"I wasn't her sex slave if that's what you're fucking applying!" Dean hissed harshly in disgust, shivering at the thought of himself deflowering such a motherly figure.

"Mr. Winchester, what did I just tell you about cursing?" Ms. Tapping asked calmly, though her eyes were practically radiating off hatred as they stared hard at the disobedient eighteen year old boy in front of her, "And it isn't polite to interrupted someone when they are speaking—especially your elder and superior." Dean sighed and bowed his head in shame, hoping to pull off the guilt trip (though he's not sure this bitch even knows what sympathy is) and thought he was home free when she said, "Now, because this is just the first day, you're expecting me to let this one time slide, correct?"

"I'd like to hope so, Ma'am." Dean said with as much remorse as he could muster toward a cold hearted monster like that.

Ms. Tapping did a breathily chuckle as she sadly shook her head, "Then this is going to be a fresh breath of reality for you, Dean." She leaned in and narrowed her eyes at him, "I've read your file and it is quite _inspiring _for me to finally fix this run-down dumpster into a well-respected high class education center. So, because this is your first offense with me, I am going to go easy on you and just settle for only two weeks of morning and afternoon detention for three hours each."

Dean's mouth fell open and he honestly didn't believe her at first, "W-What?"

"You heard me, Mr. Winchester."

"B-But unlike you, I actually have a life outside this hellhole!" Apparently, Dean forgot to turn on his mental censor since almost everything he keeps thinking flows through his lips without direct permission and access. He is figuratively and literally totally fucked.

Ms. Tapping's fake smile finally dropped as did her false delighted tone, "Three weeks. Shall I continue to add more to your sentencing or do you have something else to say to me?" Gee, she makes it sound like this is a court hearing and she's the unforgiving judge and he's the no good criminal wanted for an illegally large amount of attitude.

Dean had to lock his jaw so more profanities won't escape his mind and slither out of his lips as he said through clenched teeth, "No, Ma'am."

Ms. Tapping smiled victoriously and nodded, "Good." As if on cue, the bell rang, signaling that first period was already halfway over. She sighed and straightened the papers on the desk, "You are excused, Mr. Winchester. When you finally arrive back at your classroom, I expect for you to get up in front of everyone and apologize to Mr. Henriksen as well as the students for your rude interruption and tardiness. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, Ma'am." Dean almost growled out the words, wishing he was some kind of secret X-Men member and make her head explode by just one glance. But before she could give him more detention for just looking at her menacingly (and he wouldn't doubt that she wouldn't considering all the stunts she's pulled today), Dean stood up and got the hell out of there.  
Though as soon as he was a respectable distance away from her office, Dean hauled off and punched the nearby locker wall with all of his might. He started to regret it instantly when he felt his innocent fingers snap into unnatural positions (sometimes, Dean suspects he's too strong for his own good). Dean swallowed down his upcoming scream of pain and just popped his fingers back into place before reluctantly going back to his homeroom.

Something deep in Dean's gut warned him that this wouldn't be the last time he'd have to deal with Ms. Tapping, but he tried desperately to ignore the feeling and just pretended that his senior year was going to be just fine.

* * *

The only things he learned in first period is that the class is full of almost everyone he hates and Mr. Henriksen may hold a grudge against him for the remaining of this year. Second period with Ms. Tran was a bit better because at least Jo was in there with him, but it still doesn't change the fact that he's probably going to fail Geometry this year (he still can't understand what wise guy dedicated a whole class to learn fucking shapes). But other than Dean encountering more equally fucked up (meaning extremely difficult) classes, nothing else really interesting happened until lunch rolled around.

Dean entered the lunchroom with both his arms draped around Jo Harvelle and Charlie Bradbury (which was kind of ironic since Jo was like a little sister to him and he wasn't Charlie's…_type_). His day was a little bit more tolerable since the first period incident but he won't go as far as saying his first day back at school was going well either. He had thought lunchtime would a time for him to gather peace of mind but that was almost threatened when Alastair Damon, one of Dean's popular "friends," whistled from one of the tables, "Hey, Winchester, you're spot's over here, Man! Drop the Hos and hang out with the Bros for a change!"

Dean gritted his teeth in annoyance but just sent Alastair a lazy smile and sadly shook his head, "Sorry, I can't today. I promised my nerdy little brother I'd eat with him today." _**I may have offered to since I didn't want to get roped into hanging out with your dumb ass but that's irrelevant, **_Dean added cheekily in his mind. Alastair rolled his eyes but waved him off anyway to go round up the other idiots from his popular posse.

Okay, so there's something you need to know about the forever elusive Dean Winchester; in school, he has his _real _friends: Jo, Ash, Sam, Charlie, Lisa Braeden, and Benny Lafitte. Then he has his "friends": Bela Talbot, Alastair Damon, Lilith Boecher, and Ruby Cortese. The only two of Dean's real friends that are actually popular are Benny and Lisa; the rest are social rejects that Dean hangs out with in school from time to time. But hey, it's not Dean's fault he's the star player on Lawrence's basketball team and king of the school while his childhood friends are considered as outsiders. Though there is a hidden part of Dean's brain that secretly envies his friends that got the option to be themselves without anybody giving them crap for how they _should _act; if Dean did that, Lawrence's whole population of youth would rain down on him like a freaking hailstorm. They all fly over him like vultures, watching his every move just waiting for the perfect time where he finally slips up. Then they run and tell everyone they know for just two minutes of fame while Dean has to deal with it for the rest of his high school life. _**And some people actually believe high school is the greatest time of your life, **_Dean scoffed silently as the three made their way to their usual table that was pushed to the very right corner, allowing them to look over the whole lunchroom in obvious hatred and distaste. Dean sat in his usual spot and Jo took one of the seats beside, Charlie choosing to sit by Jo since she's her "bestest friend in the whole world" or something girly like that. Speaking of Charlie, Dean has to say that chick is quite a rare creature; she was only a junior like Jo but had better hacking skills than a sixty year old computer genius. She was also the biggest geek in every sense of the word. She loved everything science fiction, owned every playing card ever imaginable, could speak every alien language in pop culture, and ever LARPed on the weekends (and Dean has to admit, the very few times he was dragged into the beautiful fantasy world of Moondoor, he's had a lot more fun that he'd ever let on). He had met Charlie in Art two years ago when they were paired up for a project together and fell head over heels for her the second she suggested that they do a Braveheart collage. They've been best friends ever since (well, not as close as she is with Jo but that's just because those two have been friends since grade school).

"Jo, where's Ash?" Dean asked, thinking that the technology genius was always there before them.

Jo sighed, "I think he's still in the new computer lab messing with all of the teachers' personal computers."

Dean chuckled, "Well, I hope he added my personal request of pranking Mr. Henriksen by filling gay porn in all of his files"

Charlie rolled her eyes, "Dean, is that the best you can come up with? Come on, use a little imagination."

Dean scoffed and was going to reply when he saw Jo's famous brown bag of fresh (and by fresh, he means non-processed) goodies Ellen always gave her and Ash to eat instead of the school's "food."

"What did Misses H cook us this time?" Charlie asked with mild curiosity and extreme hunger.

Jo shrugged, "I don't know. I told her to surprise me this time." As soon as Dean saw what was in the bag when Jo dumped the items onto their table, he had to fight the urge to vomit.

"What kind of cold-hearted monster serves her daughter Brussels sprouts and organic toast?!" Dean asked in horror as if just being near the damn food products is already giving him a fatal disease.

Jo grimaced as she stared down the stupidly healthy meal, "My mother. Apparently, she's still mad about me dumping a whole pitcher of beer on Garth when he showed up at the Roadhouse a few days ago."

Charlie grinned and shrugged, "Hey, I thought it was funny."

Jo sighed and pushed them to the other side of the table, "It must be Sam's lucky day then." As if he heard them say his name, Dean's little brother finally entered the lunchroom…but he wasn't alone; there was a tall brunette that had on all of the latest fashion trends on at Sam's side. _**Wait a minute, is that—**_

"Is your little brother with _Ruby_?" Charlie voiced his thoughts in astonishment with a trace of disgust. Dean couldn't respond and just stared dumbfounded as he watched Sam say goodbye to the manipulative bitch and walked towards them. The clueless freshmen plopped down into the chair on the other side of Dean and smiled, "Hey, Guys."

"_Hey, Guys_?!" Dean hissed, finally recovering from his shock as he stared down his brother, "You walk in with the biggest slut in this school and all you have to say is '_Hey, Guys_'?"

Sam furrowed his brow as his innocent green eyes reflected pure confusion, "What?" It then finally dawned on him who Dean was obviously talking about, "Wait, you mean Ruby?"

Dean rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically, "No, your imaginary girlfriend that's been whoring around with Caspar the Friendly Ghost. Who the hell do you think I'm talking about?"

"But Ruby's nice," Sam said strongly, starting to become defensive, "She's in my homeroom."

Dean sighed exhaustedly at his brother's naiveness, "Just trust me, Sammy, stay away from that bitch."

"But isn't she one of your friends?" Sam countered.

Dean hesitated before admitting slowly, "Well, I hang out with her from time to time but that's how I know that she's a lying bitch that likes to take advantage of good smart guys like yourself. Just don't hang around her—or any of my other popular sociopaths, for that matter—ever again, okay? You're just gonna get hurt."

Sam looked ready to argue but knew by the look in Dean's eyes that fighting about it won't change anything. So he just nodded reluctantly and put his focus on Jo's terrible food options, "What are these?"

"They're all yours, Kid." Charlie told him cheerfully and practically shoved them in his hands, "Eat it up before Dean-o starts foaming from the mouth for overexposure to his number one nemesis…_vegetables_!"

"Shut up, _Charlene_." Dean replied, though his slight mocking tone and amused glint in his eyes proved he wasn't serious.

Charlie smirked and stood up out of her chair, "Fine, _Deanna_, I guess I won't pick you up one of my Twinkies that I've hidden in my secret stash." Dean's eyebrows shot up as if saying '_Deanna? Really?'_ but then her words suddenly took meaning to him. He was tempted to accept defeat because of the angry roar coming from his stomach but decided to stand his ground as he stood up from his chair also, "Jokes on you then, Charles. I happen to actually like the school's toxic waste that's supposed to be a nutritious meal." Charlie rolled her eyes as she made her way out of the lunchroom to go to her "secret stash" (when in reality, it was just her Legend of Zelda backpack) while Dean went into the lunch line. Since they had arrived late at the lunchroom because they had to wait for Jo as she fruitlessly attempted to get out of a painful conversation with her future husband and current stalker named Garth, the line was almost vacant so it took no time for Dean to grab a small bag of Doritos and a carton of about to be spoiled milk (there was also meatloaf available as the main course but Dean was almost certain that it was a made out of the sort of meat that isn't legal to cook and consume in the U.S). But as he was walking back to his table with his eyes glued onto the milk's expiration date to check to see if it was even a liquid still, he smacked into a small figure and almost made them crashing to the ground if Dean's reflexes weren't as fast as they were as he managed to reach out and grab them to keep them from falling. He had first expected it to be a girl because of their petite frame and how they couldn't even weigh 100 pounds soaking wet, but was terribly mistaken when he found himself looking into a certain familiar pair of blue eyes._** No, it couldn't be…**_

Just then, Dean was brought back into a vivid flashback:

_It was the morning after he had discovered the chess piece and the touching note that stirred up unwanted feelings he so desperately tried to ignore. Dean had woken up early and threw on some clothes before slowly creeping down the stairs and scribbling a note to Sammy saying that he'd be out for awhile. Then, with chess piece in hand, Dean had made his way to the Impala and drove straight to Lawrence's run-down hospital. When he had gotten there, he had went straight into the building and directly into Cas' room, wondering what exactly he was going to say once he got there. __**Should I thank him for the touching gift or threaten to call the police for breaking in and entering? No, maybe I should just ask him to accompany me for a cup of coffee and simply talk to the guy for awhile…damn, even in my head that sounded gay.**_

_With trembling finger tips, Dean swallowed down his overgrowing anticipation and slight nervousness as he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open…only to find two completely barren hospital beds. Dean furrowed his brow and explored deeper into the room, looking intently for any signs of Castiel's existence—chessboard, textbooks (yea, the kid even had freaking textbooks he liked to read over the summer "to quench his minds thirst for something interesting to mull over in his brain about while school was over" or some bullshit like that), even his weird leather back notebook Dean's caught him writing in a few times...but everything Dean had remembered Castiel had sitting beside his bed were now completely gone. Even his freaking hospital bed looked as untouched and uninhibited as ever. _

"_Cas?" Dean called out hopelessly, knowing he was the only person in the room but deciding to give it a shot anyway. Not even waiting for an answer he knew wasn't coming, Dean darted out of the room in panic and started looking furiously through the whole hospital (a little too the extreme but he's pretty sure he wasn't in a particularly sane state of mind right then) until he finally spotted Daphne and Missouri talking at the front desk. "Hey!" Dean called out as he bolted towards them with all his might. They both jerked their heads up at his extremely loud (and probably insane sounding) voice and frowned once they saw who it was. _

"_Mr. Winchester, do you want me to throw your sorry ass out right here, right now?" Missouri calmly demanded the sweaty boy that was gasping for air when he had finally reached them._

"_N…No, Ma'am." He tried to say, breathing hard from his panicking haze that sent him running throughout the entire hospital._

"_Then I'd suggest that you stop running around here like you just broke out of the psychiatric wing and show yourself out before you catch something in here."_

_Dean nodded and panted out, "Sorry…I was just…wondering…where Cas…was. He's not in…his room. I just want to tell…him something." Both of the ladies' faces fell and they averted their gazes, suddenly falling silent._

"_He's um…not in our care anymore, unfortunately." Daphne told him hesitantly in a strange tone, causing Dean's stomach to churn._

_He instantly thought the worst and his eyes widened, "What the hell happened? I-Is he okay?"_

_Missouri sighed, "No, it's nothin' like that, Sugar. His daddy just came home unexpectedly and pulled him out way earlier than we would have recommended."_

_Dean couldn't help but let out a breath of relief and smiled, "Damn, you guys almost gave me a heart attack. Besides, I thought he was almost over his Malaria."_

_Missouri's eyebrows shot up, "Malaria?"_

"_Yea, that's what was wrong with him, wasn't it?" Dean replied slowly, trying to jog her memory. Missouri shook her head and was about to reply when Daphne, who had a slight panicked look in her eye, beat her to it, "Yea, that was it. Isn't that right, Missouri?"_

_Dean smiled and nodded while Missouri eyed her like she was insane but finally replied, "Yes, that's right. I was thinkin' of another patient of mine." Daphne sent her a thankful smile and Missouri continued, "But even though Cas wasn't contagious anymore, we'd have liked to let him stay until his health was fully restored. But his daddy got back early from his business trip and checked him out two hours after you left."_

"_Oh," Dean utter out, disappointment starting to seep in his bones but he didn't understand why, "Do you have his address or something that I can use? I mean, I just want to thank him for the gift he had given me."_

_Daphne sighed sadly and shook her head, "I'm sorry, Dean, but we don't give out a client's information to just anyone. Besides, his father had taken him and the rest of his family on vacation somewhere for them to blow off some steam."_

_Dean nodded reluctantly, "Okay, but do you know when he'll be back?"_

_Missouri shook her head, "That's not our place to ask. However, we did tell him to call us if Castiel's Malaria started acting up again and he becomes a danger to himself or others."_

_Dean nodded painfully and cleared his throat, "Um…okay then. Call me if you guys find out anything else about Cas, alright?"_

"_We'll do our best."_

_It felt like Dean's heart had caved in on itself for some reason as he stumbled out of the hospital and numbly drove back to his house. When he had finally reached his home and walked into the kitchen, he found Sam sitting at the table all by himself eating a bowl of cereal. Sam's head jerked up at the sound of him entering and furrowed his brow once he saw Dean's tight facial expressions, "You okay?"_

_Dean nodded as he clutched the wooden chess piece in his hand, "Um…I'm fine, Sammy. I just had to take a drive to clear my head."_

_Sam nodded and then his eyes moved to his balled fist, "What are you doing?"_

_Dean licked his lips and reluctantly let the chess piece fall onto the table, "I found it in the driveway just now. Pretty cool, right?"_

"_It's a pawn."_

_Dean rolled his eyes, "Sam, I'm not stupid. I know it's a chess piece; not something from freaking Star Wars."_

_Sam sighed and couldn't fight back the smug smile on his face, "I know that, Dean. That's just the name of that certain chess piece."_

"_Oh…" Dean trailed off and cleared his throat, "I knew that."_

_Sam split into a huge grin and Dean just rolled his eyes, "What? You get a kick out of making me look like an idiot?"_

_Sam's face instant grew more sober as he quickly shook his head, "No, it's not that. I-I just…"_

"_What?"_

_He swallowed hard and dropped his gaze to his cereal bowl, "I've just missed you, that's all."_

_Dean felt a soft smile work its way onto his face as he flicked his brother in the back of his head, "Don't worry, Dork. You're not getting rid of this sweet ass for a long time."_

_Sam rolled his eyes, "Shut up." He then reached to grab the wooden pawn and before Dean could even stop himself, he slapped Sam's hand away and scooped up the chess piece up into his protective hands. Sam furrows his brow at his odd actions, "What's wrong? Why can't I see it for a minute?"__** That's a good question, Sammy, and once I figure that out, I'll get back to you.**_

"_Because I don't want you to get little bitch all over it." Dean answered instead, starting to become seriously concerned about his mental state of mind. Sam stared at him strangely, probably wondering the same thing, so Dean just played cool and ruffled his brother's brown hair before heading out of the kitchen door, "I'm going to go back up to my room to take a real nice power nap. Just don't try to burn the house again, Samantha. We don't want an encore from last year, now do we?"_

"_THAT WAS ONE TIME!" Dean heard Sam call after him and he smiled, thankful that he was finally somewhere familiar and comfortable. When he got up to his room and collapsed onto his bed, he dreamt of blue eyes and nervous smiles…and he wasn't complaining about it either._

Dean was suddenly brought back to the present and found himself still holding onto Castiel's shirt to steady, staring deeply at him for who knows how long. The lunchroom was deadly silent and it took a moment for it to dawn on Dean that every single student had their gazes locked on the two. Before he even knew what he was doing, Dean let go of him and shoved Cas to the ground, causing him to slam onto the ground on his ass. The room suddenly erupted into laughter and Dean wondered if he could ever hate himself more. He couldn't even look at Cas in utter shame and humiliation but for some reason (though he suspected it was for punishment), his legs wouldn't budge, making him stay in place and watch everyone bellow at Castiel's expense. The laughter was soon expelled once they all saw someone running up to Cas and helping him to his feet. Who that someone was Dean wouldn't have guessed in a million years.

It was Sebastian Balthazar, though now he prefers for everyone to call him by only his last name to appear more "dramatic," and he looked more pissed than he did last year when some freshmen girl beat him for the part of Peter Pan for the school's annual musical as he helped Castiel get up. He turned to Dean and gave him such a murderous look that Dean could've dropped dead right there if looks could kill.

"Hey_, you filthy prick, _watch where_ the bloody hell _you're going?!" Balthazar growled out in his perfect English accent as he draped a protective arm around Castiel, leading him back to his table with all the other of the theatre geeks.

"Fags!" Someone called out from the crowd, making everyone erupt into laughter once again. Dean wanted so badly to call out an apology but no words came out. Castiel turned his head and sent Dean a confused and slightly hurt glance before turning back around and Dean wished with all his might that he would die right then and there for doing that to _Cas of all the asshats here!_

Once everyone calmed down and turned back to whatever they were doing before, Dean could fully operate his legs now and darted back to his own table. Everybody at his table—even Charlie, making him wonder how long he stared at Cas before making a complete dick of him—stared at him with their mouths open.

Jo was the first to speak, "Holy shit, Dean, you runnin' for biggest asshole of the year?"

"Not fucking helping, Jo." Dean hissed, burying his face into his hands.

"Wasn't that Castiel?" He heard Sam ask lowly.

Dean stopped acting like a baby and brought his head up just in time to see Charlie furrowing her brow at Sam, "How the hell do you know who he is? Hell, most people from _his own grade_ don't even know who that kid is."

"He shared a room with Dean in the hospital." Sam answered her before turning his attention to his brother, "Why did you do that? I thought you two were friends."

"Dean, you even knew the kid before knocking him on his ass?!"

"Jo, you're still not help!" Dean hissed not too softly before sighing sadly and letting his tone become gentler, "Look, I don't know what happened back there. I-I didn't mean to push Cas and make him the laughing stock of the whole school. I just…panicked."

"I don't even know what just happened and I saw it!" Charlie exclaimed, "I mean, one minute you're eye-fucking his brains, and the next you're throwing him down like a freaking sumo-wrestler!"

Dean groaned, "I know," Then something about her statement finally sunk in, "Wait, what? I-I wasn't eye-fucking anybody; especially not a freaking dude! I just…" He wanted more than anything to further explain his actions but he couldn't find the right words to justify what he did, so he just sighed sadly, "It's complicated."

"I'll say." Jo remarked, watching Dean warily with a strange glint in her eyes.

Dean licked his lips and moved his gaze downward before asking lowly, "So, is he looking at me?"

"Which one?" Charlie asked, not even caring if anyone saw her staring at the theatre table intently.

"I'm talking about Cas," Dean informed her before adding in disgust, "Not his stupidly over-dramatic, _heroic_ boyfriend." He didn't like how strange jealousy worked into his tone and hoped no one else noticed. Because he's not jealous. He's just angry and confused, not envious of that pompous British asshole just because he got to sit by Cas in the lunchroom and got to wrap an arm safely around him to shield him from the wrath of the school…no, he's totally not. Seriously, don't say differently or he may start throwing punches.

"Castiel is not Balthazar's boyfriend," Charlie told him, taking her eyes off the over-theatrical table look at Dean, "Though most people think differently since they always hold hands and hug everywhere—"

"_Excuse me_?" Dean snapped before he had the chance to stop himself, his bag of chips crumbling under his tight grip.

Charlie furrowed her brow at his odd reaction and hesitated before continuing, "Um…yea, but I'm pretty sure Balthazar only does it to stand up against homophobia and to support gay rights. I mean, if he actually is dating Castiel, then somebody better inform his girlfriend."

"Why? You startin' to bat for the other team, Dean?" Jo teased, but it didn't really have a joking reaction from her best friend.

"_Of course not!_ Why the hell does everyone keep asking me that?" Dean snapped a little defensively, "I mean, I'm one of the biggest womanizing jackasses in this country alone! If I was gay, I would've found out about that years ago if I had freaking Backstreet Boys and Hanson posters all over my walls instead of Women Swimsuit Models!"

Jo threw her hands up in surrender, "Whoa, take it easy, Dude. I was just kidding around."

Dean calmed himself down before letting out a long tired sigh, "Sorry, Jo. I didn't mean to freak out on you there. It's just that I'm so _sick_ of everyone asking me that." _**Though the person who's been asking me that the most is myself, **_he added silently in his head but went on to say, "I mean, can't a man befriend another dude and not have everybody jumping down his throat just to see if he's a Gaylord or not?"

"If it means anything, Dean-o, being a Gaylord isn't half bad." Charlie assured him with a smile.

Dean cringed at his own vocabulary, "Shit, I'm sorry, Charles. I forgot you liked chicks."

Charlie shrugged, "Hey, it's no biggie. I mean, seriously, what's not to like?" To add emphasis, Charlie looked to Jo and winked seductively as a joke but Dean could've swore he saw Jo turn a slight shade of pink as she shoved her best friend lightly, "Knock it off, Charles."

"Don't pretend you don't love me, Joanna Beth…" Dean's mind drifted from their conversation and he couldn't help but fixate his gaze over to the drama geek table, only to find Castiel already watching him intently. Dean sent his biggest apologetic grin and Castiel hesitated before returning it with a small wary smile. Dean couldn't help but notice that Cas looked significantly better than he did at the hospital. His deathly pale skin had tanned slightly and instead of wearing the paper thin hospital gown, he was dressed in a fitted suit (who the hell wears a suit to _school_?), but his entire small body was swallowed up by a huge gaudy tan trench coat. Weird fashion sense aside, even Dean has to admit that the boy may even pass by Robert Downey Jr. for the sexist man alive (and it's a fact, not Dean's own opinion because he doesn't find dudes hot. He just knows when to enjoy the view, that's all). Dean finally met Castiel's blue eyes and he couldn't bring himself to look away. Castiel's smile never faltered as he tore his eyes off of Dean to look at his own light green dress shirt. His gaze stayed on his shirt for awhile and Dean wondered what the big deal was until it finally hit him.

"J-Jo," Dean stuttered, removing his wide eyed gaze to stare wildly at the blonde, "W-What day of the week is it?"

She looked at him strangely for a moment and hesitantly replied, "Thursday. Why?"

Dean let out a groan and laid his head on the table, "Shit, I am so screwed."

* * *

The rest of the lunch period quickly ticked by and soon, the bell rang, meaning that it was time to go to Dean's fifth period class: Latin. Believe it or not, Latin was actually one of the very few classes Dean was looking forward to. The teacher, Miss Barnes, is an old friend of Dean's dad and Bobby so she couldn't be too bad; at least not as bad as Zachariah or Ms. Tapping (though even Satan himself looked like a freaking girl scout compared to those two).

He said his goodbyes to his friends and walked out of the lunchroom, only to bump into Balthazar of all fucking people. The Brit started to apologize but stopped abruptly when he turned around and saw it was Dean who he had lightly jostled. Balthazar's eyes narrowed and a small smirk appeared on his face, "Having trouble keeping your hands to yourself today, Dean?" He seemed more in-control and collected than before, but that's probably because Dean isn't humiliating anybody this time.

Dean locked his jaw, "Trust me, _Sebastian_, I wouldn't willingly touch you with a five foot pole."

A corner of Balthazar's mouth twitched as if he was fighting back one of his famous shit-eating grins, "So it's my trench-coated friend you're into now, is it?"

Dean rolled his eyes, "Seriously, one more person says that and I'm gonna puke." He had meant to just think that statement but apparently it flew out of his mouth because Balthazar split into a knowing smirk, "I knew you batted for both teams, Dean-o. You know, I really wish I could throw in a good word for you to Cassie but if you couldn't already tell," He leaned in and said lowly, "I don't particularly like you."

Dean jerked away from him, "Dude, I am not gay!" Balthazar rolled his eyes at his statement and it only made Dean madder, "You know what? At least I have better things to do than spend all my time doing _Community Theatre_ that nobody goes to!"

Balthazar didn't even look remotely offended, probably after hearing that jab so many times has made him immune, and just shrugged, "You should try it some time, Dean. It really lets the real you come out. And it looks like you probably need that right now." Balthazar started to grin like a Cheshire cat once he saw Dean visibly stiffed at his statement, "We're holding try-outs for _The Great Gatsby _in a month. Maybe you could give it a try. You'd be a shoe in for the part of Daisy Buchanan. It suits your personality."

"Drop dead." Dean growled out before storming off in search of room 302, ignoring the sudden feeling that a mysterious figure was watching him all the way there.

* * *

He had found his designated classroom easily and entered the room with minutes to spare before the bell rings. The room was empty so Dean just chose a random seat and plopped down on it. He pulled out his phone and started to entertain himself until everyone else decides to show up. He was so wrapped in his intense game of Fruit Ninja, he actually fell out of his chair in surprise when he heard a familiar deep voice say behind him, "That pointless source of entertainment does not make any sense nor clear purpose." He was about to spew several kinds of profanities to the asshat that made him fall to the ground but his mind went blank the second he saw who it was hovering over him with clear concern written on his face, "Are you alright, Dean? I didn't intend to say anything to offend. I just don't quite grasp the enjoyment of slicing fruit like a 'ninja' when it is obviously a chef's job to cut food products; fruit included. Ninjas have no proper training skills for slicing food and certainly wouldn't risk dulling their Ninjatos just to slice the ingredients for a fruit salad."

Dean split out into a relived grin, "Cas."

Castiel did his famous head tilt, "Did you mistake me for someone else? I mean, I had thought that wearing a suit and extremely over-sized trench coat during the summer is very noticeable." He paused for a moment before adding, "Though I do suspect that anyone who'd been trying to locate me will have no trouble now after lunch today." He didn't say it to make Dean feel guilty nor even remotely sad, but stated it so casually like he was just talking about the weather. Which made Dean feel even worse.

Dean got back up onto his feet and sighed, forcing himself to meet Castiel's cool gaze, "Listen, Cas, I'm really sorry about what happened earlier. I was a total asshole and you have every reason to hate my guts." He took a step forward and looked around to make sure they were alone before tilting his head toward Cas and closing his eyes, "Here, just take a quick swing before anybody comes in and we'll be even."

He heard Cas sigh, "Dean, I'm not going to—"

"C'mon, Castiel, it's okay. I deserve it." Dean encouraged, waiting patiently for the hit but it never came. Dean sighed sadly and opened his eyes to find Castiel watching him strangely with a tight expression. Dean arched an eyebrow, "What? You wanna kick me instead? That's fine, I guess, but just not in the face—"

"Dean, I, under absolute _no_ circumstances, would _ever_ strike another person." Castiel told him strongly before adding more quietly, "Especially you." Dean doesn't know why he added that last statement since Dean has barely done anything nice to Cas today.

Dean swallowed hard, "Look—"

"Yes, you may have acted like the slang use of the male genitalia but you didn't mean for any of the harsh repercussions to occur." Castiel said forcefully, ignoring Dean's protests.

Dean wanted more than anything to make Castiel stop trying to justify his actions but knew he wouldn't agree to anything different. So he just sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Then what else can I do to show you I'm not a total bastard?"

Castiel slowly slipped into a smile and opened his mouth to reply when the bell rang. In an instant, kids started bolting into the room and if Dean hadn't stepped out of the way in time, he would've been flattened like a pancake. He let out a breath of relief and turned to sat something to Castiel, but the boy was nowhere in sight. Dean swept his gaze across the whole room and if he wasn't so focused on seeing a dirty tan trench coat, he wouldn't missed him.

There Castiel was sitting in the very back corner desk on the totally other side of the room, slumping into his chair as he looked like he was trying to be invisible, which would be working if Dean hadn't had his eye out for him. If Dean wasn't specifically looking for him, he would've missed him completely because of Castiel's unnatural talent to always fade into the background.

Dean wanted more than anything to spend the whole class time just staring at Cas (wow, could he sound anymore creepier?) but knew that wouldn't happen when he heard the door open. Reluctantly, he sat back down in his seat and turned his attention to the teacher. He saw a beautiful woman that didn't look a day over twenty-five with dark hair that just reached her shoulders and smooth tan skin. But Dean didn't see what was truly special about her until she finally took off her black sunglasses, revealing the smoky cloud of gray that ran over her would be flawless eyes.

Dean, along with almost all of the other students in the class, jumped in surprise. The teacher smiled, "Hello, Class. My name is Miss Barnes. I will be your Latin teacher for the year." Dean swallowed hard and took one fleeting glance at Castiel, only to the boy trying to fight back a smile as he looked around to all of the students' shocked and slightly terrified expressions. But Castiel looked unfazed at all at their teacher's strange disability; actually, he regarded the blind woman with a warm, almost loving gaze as his eyes finally settled onto her. He stared at her for only a second before settling his eyes on Dean but by the way his face quickly changed from amused delight to outright confusion, it was obvious that Cas wasn't expecting Dean to already be watching him. As soon as they made eye-contact, Dean broke his stare and focused onto the teacher, even though she did sort of creep him out a bit.

"So," Miss Barnes drawled out as she used her cane to find her desk, "Why don't we start assigning seats and get started."

* * *

The class period ticked by rather slowly but Dean did happen to learn a few things. One: just because Miss Barnes is blind, doesn't mean she can't see. She can tell when you're out of your seat, passing notes, talking (even when it's barely audible), and even when you raise your hand. Two: Miss Barnes doesn't like anyone in his class other than Castiel. She always calls on him to do everything, even though he never raises his hand to volunteer. Dean could swear that the two probably know each other by the way Castiel looks at her with a warm familiarity glint in his blue eyes and the way Miss Barnes only speaks to Castiel with a slight ring of affection in her tone. He doesn't know how, but apparently everybody knows at least who Castiel is when Dean didn't even know he went to this school until lunch. And that bothers the hell out of him more than he'd ever admit. Dean has been living here ever since he was born and has a lot of pride on knowing what and when everything goes on in this back-watered town, sometimes even before it happens (one of the very few perks of being raised in a small town where you know everything about everyone in every second of every day), so that's why he's so furious (and slightly curious) that everything has suddenly become so unpredictable the minute he first laid eyes on Castiel. First, Ms. Eve, a woman who's been the principal at his high school for as long as Dean could even remember, got replaced by an uptight woman Dean didn't know nor particularly like. Then, it was his own precious little Sammy getting warped and brainwashed into thinking Ruby was a nice sweet girl when she is definitely anything but. Now, he has a blind Latin teacher that doesn't act blind at all. Things have turned very peculiar around this town and Dean has a feeling it all has something to do with a certain pair of blue eyes.

Just as Dean was about to fall asleep due to a significant amount of absolute boredom, the bell rang. Most students shot out of the room without so much as a goodbye but Dean decided to hang back and start interrogating Cas for answers. He looked over to where Castiel had been sitting only to find it empty, which is something Dean should start getting used to considering all of the times Cas has done it in the past. With a heavy sigh, Dean collected his books and said a farewell to Miss Barnes before entering the crowded hallway full of buzzing kids. He knew sixth period wasn't going to start for another seven minutes so he just decided to hang out around his locker to kill time. He should've known better because the minute he began to relax, Alastair and his gang pounced on him.

"If I didn't know any better, Winchester, I'd think you've been avoiding us." Al said with a devilish as he walked over to stand beside him.

Dean sighed, "Sorry, I've just had my hands full with making sure Sammy was okay. The guy's been acting like a needy girlfriend ever since he stepped on school grounds." He knew he couldn't use Sam as an excuse all the time but he was too tired and frustrated to come up with a better lie.

Ruby grinned wildly at the name of Dean's brother, "Yea, we've met. Dean-o, why didn't you ever tell me how hot your little brother got over the summer?"

"He is a Winchester, after all." Bela piped up, giving Dean a once over before winking playfully.

Dean locked his jaw and glared at Ruby, "Yea, about that—"

He was interrupted by Alastair slapping his side and hissing none too quietly, "Look, there he is!" Dean sighed tiredly, wondering what poor sap is going to be Alastair's target _this_ year and reluctantly followed the group's cruel gaze…that landed straight on Castiel Novak. _HIS _Castiel Novak (well, not exactly _his _Castiel but you get the picture). The boy was stationed at his locker putting his books away in his tidy locker and getting out others for his next class. Dean's heart felt like it stopped beating but he forced himself to act cool as he shrugged carelessly, "What about him?"

Alastair instantly switched his unforgiving gaze onto Dean and raised an eyebrow, "You don't remember?"

"I remember shoving him in the lunchroom," Dean replied in such an effortlessly casual tone that it physically ached, "Why? Is there something else I don't know about?" He wanted desperately for Al to say no since the lunchroom fiasco would be over by the end of the week and then the over-compensating Neanderthal would just forget Cas and move on to another target.

But all hopes of that happening was shattered when Alastair shot Dean a dirt look and snapped, "Dean, do you _ever _pay attention when I speak?" _**Say something actually worth a shit and then we'll talk.**_

Dean rolled his eyes, "Stop being a baby and just tell me already. Besides, I probably wasn't there when you were talking about it." It was a flat out lie since Dean usually tunes out every time Al opens his big fat gossiping mouth, but luckily Alastair's too stupid to catch his deceit.

Alastair still halfway glared at him but Dean knew he couldn't resist an opportunity to talk shit about people, "That's Castiel Milton, aka the gay freak show that spent his whole summer in the hospital after he tried to kill himself."

Dean knew that wasn't even remotely right and shook his head, "No, that's Castiel _Novak_. He just had Malaria." He saw the strange looks he received from the group so he just shrugged and added, "Or that's what I heard, that is."

Bela rolled her eyes, "Whoever told you that is a flat out liar or just an idiot. I cheer with his sister, Anna, and their last name is _Milton_." _**Castiel has a sister? And it's Anna fucking Milton? How come h**__**e only mentioned brothers to me?**_

Though the sense of dread in the pit of his stomach said to stop asking questions and ignore them, Dean couldn't help but want to prove them wrong, "And who's your reliable source? Maybe they're the idiot."

Alastair snorted, "Trust me, Winchester, I may get all D's on my report card but I'm not wrong about this. I have a police scanner in my room and I heard them specifically say the Milton's address and that the emergency was a suicide attempt." He shrugged, "I got curious and had one of the nerds to hack into the hospital files. That's when I found one that said that Castiel Milton was black and blue in bruise recovering from a failed suicide. Turns out, somebody kicked that guy's lily white ass before he decided to swallow his family's whole medicine cabinet." Dean felt his head starting to spin and he had to lean against the wall of lockers to keep from passing out. _**That's not true. They're just morons. Why would Cas ever lie to you?**_

"Dean, you okay?" He heard Ruby ask him but he just waved her off.

"It's just those damn chicken burritos my mom fed me last night." He answered weakly, clutching his stomach in fake pain.

Alastair looked to the clock, "Well, we gotta get to class soon before that bitch Naomi gives us detention…_again_." _**At least I wasn't the only one, **_Dean had thought to try and lift his spirits but it still didn't stop his head from spinning and his heart and stomach from being on fire.

Dean nodded, "Um…why don't you guys go on ahead. I'll see you later."

"But what about you?"

Dean swallowed hard, "I'm just gonna use the bathroom before heading to Woodshop." This seemed to satisfy the three because they said their goodbyes and went to their designated classrooms. As soon as they were out of sight, Dean jerked his head back around and found Castiel now walking in the middle between Balthazar and Meg Masters to their next class. He ran after them and grabbed Castiel by the collar from behind in an attempt to stop him from running away when Dean started demanding for answers. But as soon as Dean just touched him, Meg whipped around and slammed her fist into his gut as she growled, "Hey, asshole, pick on somebody your own size!"

Meg Masters is the baddest girl at Lawrence High and won't hesitate to kick somebody's ass if necessary. She's only a junior and has already been suspended six times. She should have been expelled ages ago but since her father is the one and only Mr. Azazel, the school won't touch her. She used to hang out with Ruby a long time ago but when Ruby got popular by being known as the high school's slut, she dropped Meg without a beat to hang out with the stuck up in-crowd. Now, she hangs out with anybody who can stomach her presence for long. Dean guesses that since Meg is Balthazar's girlfriend now, she'll be hanging around the theatre crowd until the Brit finally wises up and drops her sorry ass.

Dean hissed in pain and accidentally released his grip on Castiel. Cas looked ready to bolt out of there and start running for the hills but he stopped and relaxed once he realized who was behind him, "Dean?" He asked in a confused tone as he turned around to look at him, "What are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you, Cas. Like, right now." Dean told him in a slightly pained tone, trying to recover from Meg's stronger-than-he-expected-from-a-girl blow.

Cas looked ready to agree but Balthazar stopped him by shaking his head and saying quickly, "Sorry, Old Sport, but we need to get to—"

"Stuff it, Jay Gatsby, I wasn't talking to you." Dean cut him off in a harsh tone that made Castiel step away from him with slight fear on his face. Dean regained his composure and (reluctantly) regarded Balthazar with a gentler tone, "Look, I just need to speak to Cas privately for a moment. I would hope that you could detach yourself from his side for five minutes."

Balthazar and Meg glared daggers at him but Cas smiled weakly and said, "It's okay, Guys. It's just Dean. I'll be fine." They still looked unsure but by the look in Castiel's eyes, they knew they needed to back off. Meg nodded reluctantly and leaned into Castiel before she said lowly, "If you're not in sixth period in ten minutes, I'll gladly kill him."

Cas rolled his eyes but smiled, "That's much appreciated, Meg, but I assure you homicide won't be necessary."

Meg smiled and leaned back before taking her boyfriend's hand to tug him away, "See you in heaven then, Clarence."

When the two were out of sight, Castiel opened his mouth to say something but Dean cut him off, "Is it true, Cas?"

His brow furrowed and his head tilted to the side, "Is what true?"

"Anything you've said to me since day one."

Cas' smile dropped and his face slipped into an unreadable expression, "I don't know what you are referring to, Dean. Um…Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go—" He seemed in hurry to get out of there but Dean had caught him by the arm and held him firmly in place with his strong grip, "So Alastair is right then." Dean said more coldly, "You've been lying about everything, haven't you?"

Castiel didn't respond and it only made Dean clutch him tighter and his tone became more desperate and angrier by the second, "Cas, dammit, answer me."

Cas' gaze shifted downward as he bit his lip, "I-I don't know what you are talking about, Dean. Please, just let me go."

"Not until I get an answer."

Cas swallowed hard and Dean could have sworn he saw Castiel's eyes grow a little damp, "D-Dean, there is simply n-nothing to tell. Please, just leave me alone."

"What else have you been lying about, huh?" Dean demanded, ignoring Castiel's pleas, "Did you even come into my bedroom that night and leave that stupid chess piece? Or will you just take credit for that, too?"

He visibly flinched as if Dean's words had physically hurt him, "Y-You don't understand, Dean. _P-Please_, just stop and leave it alone."

"No, I won't stop. I want the truth from _you_. Not from Alastair, not from any other of my so called 'friends,' not from anyone else except _you_. But you can't even give me that." He jerked Castiel back until he was inches away from his face and by the way Castiel went white as a sheet, he must have looked pretty terrifying, "Anything else you want to lie your way out of?"

"W-What exactly d-do you w-want to k-know?" Cas asked softly, his breath becoming more shallow and quick. Dean didn't like seeing Cas like this; especially when he knew he was the one who was causing it. Dean released him and backed away a little, but Castiel didn't run away like Dean had expected him to. Cas stayed in the exact same spot and kept his wide eyed (slightly wet) gaze on Dean, waiting for him to respond.

He stared at Castiel for a minute, not saying anything for a long while before he finally blurted out, "Who are you really, Castiel?"

The boy let out a shaky breath and answered weakly, "I told you. My name is Castiel Novak—"

"_Bullshit_," Dean stated flatly, "I know for a _fact_ that you're last name is Milton—"

"_No, it is not!_" Castiel snapped in a suddenly strong and harsh voice, ocean blue eyes starting to turn into dark gray, "Just because some _stupid_ adoption papers say it is, doesn't mean it's true!" He paused before saying more calmly, "At least not to me."

Dean let that piece of information process until he said quietly, "So now we're getting somewhere." He looked around and saw that the halls were now completely empty, meaning that somewhere between their little scene, the bell had rang and they were both already late. But it didn't matter to Dean right now; the only thing that mattered was the one person in front of him that would rather tell pretty lies than the ugly truth.

"Why did you lie to me, Cas?" Dean asked bluntly, not wanting to beat around the bush anymore, "I thought we were friends. I thought…I thought I could trust that you were telling the truth."

"Oh please," Cas scoffed bitterly, rolling his eyes, "You would've never even looked in my direction if you knew I was some suicidal basket case." He took a step forward and said quieter, "Nobody wanted anything to do with me after the stunt I tried to pull. Why would you be any different?"

"Cas, it wouldn't have mattered to me.—"

"Don't you try to play that card on me, Dean Winchester! Don't you even dare!" Cas moved fast and suddenly Dean found himself being pinned to the locker wall as his eyes were lit in flames, "You wouldn't have given me the time of day and you know it! Now tell me, _Dean_, is it a crime for wanting you to remember me as an actual person and not as some suicidal nut job, or a sick psychotic freak, or a…" His voice broke and his tone became softer and sadder, "…or a gay faggot that tries to go out the easy way even though I knew I was going to hell for committing such a horrid sin? But in my state of mind back then…it seemed better than staying here." The anger finally left Castiel's eyes as pure remorse and over-whelming sadness soon filled its place as his tone became even more guilty and weak, "And I am so sorry, Dean. I truly am. I didn't know you'd actually remember my existence after that day, much less talk to me again. I just…thought you would forget about me like everyone else does." He waited for Dean to respond but he could barely let his words register in his mind, much less actually replying to them.

After a painful three minutes of silence, Castiel sighed sadly and let one tear roll down his cheek before finally releasing his strong grip on Dean, "That is what I had expected. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go to class before Meg calls in a swat team."

He started to walk away but Dean stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder, "Cas, please wait."

"Dean, I think it is better for both of us if we don't speak to each other anymore," Cas stated flatly before adding more coldly, "And my name isn't _Cas_, it's Castiel."

And as he watched Castiel walk down the hall, Dean felt his heart break in two for the boy with sad blue eyes that actually thinks that Dean will willingly give him up without a fight.

* * *

Woodshop was uneventful and Dean spent the whole period picking his brain for any indication that proved that Castiel was lying to him at the hospital that day. There was that time when Castiel had stared at him blankly when Dean had mentioned his Malaria and the time when Missouri had looked terribly confused when Dean had told her about Cas' supposed sickness. He should have seen it coming, but he didn't. Dean Winchester was finally wrong about something for a change, and it just had to be about this one situation that Dean kept hoping was just a dream. But Dean knew it wasn't and that just made him even sadder.

He also wondered what drove Cas to suicide. He was a freaking Milton for crying out loud, the richest and most envied family that ever stepped foot in all of Kansas. All Milton children were practically teen idols in Lawrence and could make anyone do anything they want with just a snap of their fingers. The oldest Milton child was Michael, who's already twenty-four years old and still living at home (but most people say he only stays in this town to raise the rest of his siblings while their parents remain MIA due to "business" or something like that). Dean met him once back when he was dating Anna, Michael's sister, and is not exaggerating when he says that Mike is a controlling psychopath that wants to kill anybody who socializes with his family—especially the poor boy in a cracked leather jacket and dusty old blue jeans that only wants to get in his sister's pants. The second oldest was Nick, who was just one year younger than his older brother. Dean's never met him face-to-face but he knows plenty about that sociopath from the rumor mill. Even though it happened three years ago, everybody still talks about how Nick went off the deep end and tried to poison his whole family. Luckily, one of the Milton children (Dean can't remember which one for the life of him) found out and ratted him out to their father. The next thing Nick knows, he's being shipped off to prison for life with eight attempted murder charges. The last thing Dean's heard about Nick was that he changed his name to Lucifer and joined some prison gang in Washington DC. The next sibling in line was twenty year old Raphael. Unlike Michael, he was actually going to college (sure, he does it online and still lives at home but at least he's going) and was working up to his Doctorate degree in Med School to become some fancy surgeon or something like that. Gabriel is after Raphael at the young age of eighteen, meaning that he was still a senior at high school like Dean. He's the school clown and always plays wicked pranks on everyone, no matter if you're his best friend or his worst enemy. Dean suspected that Gabe was the brother Castiel had told him about a month ago in the hospital; if he was even telling the truth about that part, that is. The oldest after Gabriel was Anna, who was only seventeen (Dean had thought that she was the youngest but he was apparently mistaken with Castiel in the picture). Anna Milton was what every girl strived to be: beautiful, popular, funny, charming, and has every boy wrapped around her finger. She's only a junior and has been the homecoming queen for three years in a row. She's also the captain of the cheer squad and woman softball team (both have won national awards throughout the country all because of Anna's bending abilities and her wicked fast spall). Dean had dated Anna a few years back for maybe a month before dumping her for the way hotter Lisa Braeden and Anna didn't take it very well. Let's just say that she messed with the wrong guy's little brother and got her brand new jeep totaled in the school parking lot.

But like he was saying, the Milton kids have had everything handed to them on a silver platter and was the apple to everybody's eye, so what happened to Cas that was so traumatic that resulted with him trying to end his own life? He said he had known the consequence of supposedly going to hell (honestly, Dean doesn't know if he believes in God or not, but he does know that the Milton family were hard-core Christians and religion was everything to them), so why would he go through with it? Suddenly, Castiel's words found their way into his head, _"Because in my state of mind back then…it seemed better than staying here."_ But not long after that statement appear in his mind, Alastair's did also, _"Turns out, somebody kicked the guy's lily white ass before he decided to swallow his family's whole medicine cabinet."_ _**He did it all because of some stupid beating? Hell, I used to get my ass kicked every day before I started toughening up and defending myself.**_ But then Dean started to think that maybe it wasn't all because of Cas getting his ass whooped; maybe it was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Before Dean could analyze anything further, the bell rang, jerking him out of his thoughts. He slowly picked up his books and shuffled out into the hallway. He moved toward his next class, which as AP English with Mr. Shurley (the only Advanced Placement class he's ever had in his whole life and most likely the last), but he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Alastair trying to shove a scrawny guy with black hair into a locker. Before he could even process what was happening, Dean felt an over-whelming fear that it was Castiel and broke out into a dead run, throwing his books down to the floor, "Al, _what the hell do you think you're doing_?!"

Alastair stopped at the sound of Dean's voice and jerked his head up to see a very pissed off Dean Winchester, "Protecting my rep, Man. I made a goal to shove at least one smartass nerd in a locker a day."

"Well, not this nerd." Dean growled out and shoved the Alastair out of the way to get the boy out of the locker.

Alastair stared at him with a curious and slightly pissed off gaze, "Dude, what the hell is your problem today?"

"Just get to class, Alastair." Dean ordered harshly and unsurprisingly, Al shot him a dirty look and cussed him out under his breath before reluctantly walking away to head toward his seventh period. Dean sighed as he carefully tried to pry him out of the locker, "Dammit, Cas, why the hell did you—"

"Who's Cas?" The kid asked in a surprisingly high-pitched voice that made Dean do a double take. Not caring if he hurt the kid anymore since it wasn't Castiel, Dean yanked the guy out and discovered it wasn't Castiel like he had first thought it was; it was Garth, aka Jo's weird and obsessive lover boy.

"Garth?" Dean said in absolute shock since Garth usually kept to himself and would never pick a fight with _anybody_ in a million years, "What did you do to piss off Alastair?"

"I uh…may have shoved him a little when he was teasing me about J-Jo." Garth spoke the words hesitantly and quietly, as if he was scared Dean was actually mad at _him_.

Dean stiffened at the name of his best friend, "What did he say about her?"

"Um…t-that I didn't stand a chance with 'a piece of ass like that.'"

Dean clenched his teeth so hard he's shocked that none of them broke as he growled, "Oh, that asshole it _totally_ dead. If Jo doesn't hear about this first, that is. Then he'd _wish_ he was dead."

When Dean started to walk towards Alastair's next period and rough him up in front of his whole class, Garth stopped him and shook his head, "Wait, you can't get him now without getting in trouble with Ms. Tapping. Trust me, as soon as he steps off of school grounds tomorrow after school, we'll jump him."

Dean started to nod but stopped when he heard something he didn't quite grasp in Garth's statement, "Whoa, '_we?'_"

Garth grinned and nodded, "Hells yea, I gotta protect my woman."

Dean rolled his eyes and sighed, "Garth, Joanna Beth Harvelle is not '_your woman_.' She can barely stay in the same room as you."

"At the moment, yes, but once she gets to know me and, you know, stops blocking all my phone calls and instant messages, she'll be all over me!"

Dean had to fight the urge to gag and groaned, "Garth, I'm telling you—" He stopped abruptly when he saw what time it was. 2:12pm. Three minutes until the bell rings and seventh period starts. Dean sighed and reluctantly looked to Garth, "Okay, fine. Whatever. We can talk about this later but right now I gotta get to class.

The sophomore smiled and slapped him on the back, "You got yourself a deal, Dean Bean. I'll meet you outside the janitor's closet tomorrow morning."

Dean rolled his eyes as he collected his books from the floor, "Call me that again and I'll shove my fist down your throat."

"Whatever you say, Kemosabe!" Garth called after him like he was his freaking best friend and they were just joking around (but Dean was deadly serious about his threats; especially with it being Garth since the guy annoys the hell out of him) as Dean raced down the hallway to get as far away from Garth as possible. He was running so fast, he almost missed his classroom. Dean waited until he caught his breath before slowly pushing the door open, revealing the whole room in the middle of an uproar. Turns out, English whizzes are pretty much animalistic considering how most of them were either standing up on their desks and yelling or running around the room like maniacs. The teacher was nowhere in sight to tame them so Dean just sighed tiredly as he looked around for a desk that wasn't stained with gum and yellow Gatorade (or at least he hoped it was yellow Gatorade…), and that's when he saw him.

It was Castiel sitting in the only remotely clean desk at the back of his room, seemingly oblivious to the rambunctious scene around him. Dean felt his mouth go dry and suddenly the whole world felt as though it was going in slow motion as he felt himself being pulled towards him. Castiel didn't even see him coming since his head was buried in a book, so he about jumped out of his skin when he heard Dean's confident and casual voice ask with his head tilted toward the empty desk beside him, "Is this seat taken?"

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for all of the homophobic sayings made in this chapter but Dean is trying his absolute hardest to deny his attraction. And I know Dean has been sort of acting like an asshole a lot, but thankfully that won't be happening as often anymore. This chapter was a little depressing but I did label this Hurt/Comfort so...you can't really say you didn't see this coming (but I do promise that there will be tons of fluff added also to balance it out some). As for other news, I've finally found out how to do the single line breaks (sorry it took so long for me to figure it out. I'm a little incompetent at times), and I've added those into my previous chapters as well as fixing my most obvious mistakes. And to further being my annoying writer self, please review (as you can already tell, I'm a shameless self-promoter)! Important side note: I'm debating whether to put eventual Jo/Charlie or Jo/Garth so please let me know which one you want to see. But until next time!**


	4. Let's Be Nobodies Together

**Author's Note: Finally, I've actually managed to write a (sort of) short chapter for once! I'm kind of proud of myself for actually finding a part to leave off early (but don't worry, there will be plenty of more long chapters to come in the future). But anyway, thank you all for the nice reviews and follows/favorites! You guys are awesome for all of the kind and inspirational feedback I've been getting from this story. Now, my embarrassing gushing aside, carry on reading the newest chapter!**

* * *

Dean didn't like how his stomach started doing summersaults as he waited patiently for Castiel, who was watching with a disbelieved look on his face, to answer. But after standing there for a few minutes with nothing responding to him but dead silence while all hell broke loose around them, Dean sighed and just plopped down into the seat anyway, "Oookay, somebody's not too talkative."

"What are you doing, Dean?" Cas asked bluntly, finally recovering his lost voice. _**Yea…what am I doing again?**_

Dean tried to push down his growing anxiety and shrugged casually, "Nothing much other than just sitting here and thinking of all the ways I could slit everyone's throats if they don't pipe the fuck down."

Cas looked like he was trying his absolute hardest not to smile (much to Dean's disappointment since he liked the way the boy's blue eyes lit up when he showed his perfect white teeth…because, you know, Dean likes dental hygiene and lively eyes. Of course, it has nothing to do with the beautiful boy sitting at the desk beside him. No, not at all…) as he attempted say in his most serious voice, "Dean, I thought I had made myself clear about the subject concerning our friendship earlier in the hallway."

"Oh you made yourself clear, Cas. Crystal even," Dean assured him before shrugging carelessly and adding, "I just don't care."

Castiel's eyebrows shot up at his statement and his lips betrayed him by letting a small hopeful smile grace his angelic face. But in just a mere millisecond, the smile was gone and his newly hardened eyes matched his now cold expression, "We really shouldn't be speaking anymore, Dean."

"Why not, Cas?" Dean asked the question that's been on his mind ever since he had walked away from him in the hallway earlier, "So what if I found out about your _big bad secret_? Yea, you did lie to me and I'm still kinda pissed about it, but that's in the past now. I still think you're pretty cool and I was sort of hoping we could be…friends." _**Friends? Oh you're hilarious, Dean.**_

"But—"

"There's no buts about it, Castiel." Dean interrupted in a forceful tone, "Seriously, why the hell does you swallowing some pills mean that we can't hang out anymore?"

"Because all it does is point out that you're still popular and I'm still just a freak." Cas snapped, tearing his eyes off of Dean to stare hard at the floor with a tight, wounded expression. He waited patiently with a tense and stiff posture for him to respond, as if he was afraid Dean would suddenly realize that he was right and turn his back on him forever. Yea, like Dean could ever do that even if he tried.

"You're not a freak, Cas," Dean told him strongly once he found his voice, "You're just…very, _very _peculiar."

And finally, it was that statement that suddenly brought a smile to the boy's face. But it wasn't any of his shy smiles that he'd given Dean countless of times or the forgiving and understanding smile he'd given Dean at the lunchroom today; it was a huge _glowing _smile that showed all over his face like Dean had never even seen before.

Dean couldn't help but grin back as he opened his mouth to hopefully keep that beautiful smile intact but he was cut off by the bell ringing and the classroom door busting open. Every student suddenly stopped what they were doing to stare at the person standing in the doorway. It was a newly middle aged man—Dean guesses maybe late twenties or very early thirties—that had crazy matted brown hair that stuck up every which way like he had ran a hand through it too many times and thick black framed glasses. He straightened his posture as he cleared his throat and tried to smooth down his hair before marching to the teacher's desk with his head held high, though Dean could plainly recognize a hangover when he saw one.

"Everyone, please be seated." The man ordered in a strong tone and the very confused students did as they were told, all looking at him with the same bewildered expression that read like '_this shameful mess couldn't possibly be the highly respected published author and sharp teacher, right?_'

The man ignored their shocked stares as he picked up one of the dry board markers (revealing his terribly unsteady and shaky hands) and wrote his name on the board, "Hello, Class, and welcome to AP English. My name is Mr. Shurley and I'll be your teacher for the year." His voice was groggy and tired, like he had just gotten out of bed and was just going through the motions until he could finally go back home. Dean liked him already.

You see, teachers that don't give a shit seem to understand how students actually feel. They know that most of the students won't listen to their constant ramblings and accept that—not like the stuck up pushy teachers that just love to hear themselves fucking talk.

"Any questions so far?"

Pure silence answer him, causing Mr. Shurley to let out a long sigh, "Anyway, since this classroom is full of people from different grades, you guys barely know each other, right?" Dean and most of the other student knew where this was heading so no one even dared to reply. It only took one idiot freshmen to nod his head to make Mr. Shurley smile and continue (much to everyone's dismay), "That's what I thought. Now, I know this is just the first day of school but I think it's better to just get this project out of the way. So, I expect for everyone to find a partner, preferably someone you don't know much about, and begin starting a two hundred word essay on your partner's past, family, likes, dislikes, and something that you had misjudged about them. You only have two weeks to complete this, so it would be wise to meet your partner somewhere else other than on school grounds to finish it." The teacher then sighed and sluggishly moved towards the door, "Now, everyone pick a partner and get started while I get myself a well needed cup of hot coffee."

As soon as Mr. Shurley went out of the room and shut the door, the classroom went into a frenzy. Everyone raced to their ideal partners and instantly started messing around instead of beginning on the paper like they were supposed to. Dean swept his gaze around the room and recognized most of the faces, but he would never even recall their names in a million years. A soft feminine voice tore him out of his thoughts, "E-Excuse me, Dean?"

His head jerked back around and he found himself staring at a pretty blonde girl with big stormy eyes and an even bigger rack. He couldn't help but break out his signature smirk, thinking about how he hadn't gotten laid in almost a week ever since that end of the summer party Bela Talbot threw, "What can I do for you, Sweetheart?"

She smiled, her cheeks turned a very slight shade of pink, "Um…yea, I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to be my partner…?"

He thought she was hotter than hell and knew he could probably get into her pants a couple times if he agrees, but then a picture of deep ocean blue eyes and a damn dirty trench coat found its way into his subconscious and he found himself saying, "Sorry, but I already have a partner."

Her face fell, making it obvious that he wasn't the only one who was shocked that he turned down a chance to possibly get laid, "Oh…I-I'm sorry. I guess I'll just go and find somebody else. I-It was nice talking to you."

The girl tried to walk away but Dean stopped her and gave her a lazy smile, "Hey now, I can't leave you empty handed, can I? Here, to make it up to you, why don't we go out this Saturday night? Completely my treat."

Her smile reappeared and she was practically bouncing now (making it hard for Dean to focus on her eyes instead of her breasts), "That sounds amazing." She then took out a piece of paper and scribbled some numbers down before handing it to him, "Here's my cellphone number. Text me later about our plans, okay?"

"Definitely, Miss…?"

"Jessica," She supplied and stuck out her hand, "Jessica Moore. But most people just call me Jess."

Dean grinned and kissed the back of her hand, "Then until we meet again, _Jess_."

She beamed at him and said goodbye before scurrying back to her group of girlfriends, probably about to babble excitedly about her plans with the elusive and infamous Dean Winchester that most likely won't even remember her name the morning when he wakes up next to her. Jess cut a small glance at Dean and he winked at her, causing her to blush furiously and duck her head.

Now fully satisfied with proving how much he loves women and how totally not gay he was, Dean turned back around in his seat and found Castiel still sitting at his desk with his eyes glued to his book, though Dean's almost certain he was watching him out of the corner of his eye. Dean knew Castiel noticed that he was staring blatantly at him but he never looked up from that damn book.

"Seriously, am I that hideous?" Dean mocked, grinning teasingly at him after ten whole minutes of Castiel avoiding his gaze.

"Who said you were hideous?" Cas asked, finally lifting up his gaze to stare at Dean intently. He kept his eyes on Dean with a serious and curious expression for a long time before he finally just shrugged and concluded, "You don't look hideous to me, Dean. Whoever had informed you of that assumption must need their eyes checked or is just trying to lower your self-esteem by telling you false observations."

Dean rolled his eyes, though he found himself practically beaming on the inside that Cas thought he wasn't completely hideous (it's not a total compliment but he'll take anything he can get), "Gee, anymore talk like that and you'll have to buy me new underwear."

Castiel narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, opening his mouth to respond but Dean beat him to it.

"So, Cas," Dean began as casual sounding as he could, "When should we get started on this stupid thing?"

The boy stared at him in confusion for a moment with a furrowed brow before he finally asked, "Your statement does not make any sense to me, Dean."

Dean rolled his eyes but felt himself starting to smile, "I'm asking you to be my partner, Einstein. But apparently I was being too subtle."

Castiel's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He closed his mouth soon after and just continued to watch him with a bewildered expression for a few more seconds before he opened his mouth again, this time words coming out, "B-But…why?"

Dean cleared his throat and shrugged, "Why not?"

His answer didn't seem to satisfy Cas because he just continued to stare at him before he finally said softly, "But, Dean…I'm nobody."

Dean's heart sunk at his words and he suddenly had the need to tell him how completely wrong he was. How he was sort of cool and smart and funny and nice and amazing and just _perfect_…but he knew Cas wouldn't take any of his words seriously, no matter how true they really were.

So instead he let a small smile form onto his lips and hesitantly replied, "Well, deep down…I'm nobody, too." Cas stared at him with an unrecognizable glint in his eyes for a moment before he reluctantly started to smile back at him. He doesn't remember how long they stayed like that; all he recalls is hearing the bell ring after a long while, causing the two boys to finally break out of their trance.

Dean looked down and started to gather up his stuff to go to his last period when he felt a slender hand grab his wrist. He lifted his head up and found it was just Castiel who was watching him with a slightly anxious expression, as if he was afraid that Dean would be angry at Cas for touching him. Oh, if he only knew.

"I um…" Cas started quietly before retracting his hand from Dean to write something on a small piece of paper. He then slowly put it on top of Dean's stuff and avoided his gaze as he said shyly, "I'm busy most days because of my tutoring sessions and extracurricular after school activities, but I'm free today after four o'clock. W-We could meet up somewhere and start working."

"Be at my house at seven o'clock, okay?" Dean told him before adding, "I would like for us to start earlier but that stupid bitch of a principal is making me stay after school for three hours everyday for the next couple weeks."

Cas stiffened at his last statement and went quiet for a few moments before finally replying, "Yes, that is most unfortunate. Naomi can go quite over-board at times." He then looked to the clock and swallowed hard before picking up his things and heading toward the door, "I have to go to Band practice now. It was nice speaking to you again, Dean."

Dean nodded and started heading out of the room also, "You too, Cas. Remember, my house at seven, alright?"

Cas threw a glance at him over his shoulder, "Um…perhaps our meeting could be set earlier today if Ms. Tapping would reconsider your punishment."

Dean sighed, "I wouldn't hold your breath on it. Naomi's sort of a hard ass and won't give a fuck if I have other plans; even if they really are academic."

Cas nodded and pursed his lips together, "Well…maybe someone can convince her otherwise"

He snorted, "Yea, that'll be the day." Dean then did a half-hearted salute to him and finally started to make his way to his last class, Gym. He didn't remember that Cas had laid a tiny piece of paper on his books until he was halfway to his destination. Dean looked down and his heart almost stopped beating when he saw a phone number written in the same perfect handwriting that the note Dean had found in his room one month earlier was. Then the realization suddenly hit him like a bag of bricks.

Cas had just given him his phone number.

Meaning that he wants Dean to call him.

And Dean can now talk to Cas any time he wants.

_Holy shit._

After he had shoved down his extremely girly giddiness at the certain aspect of calling Castiel and getting to hear his voice any time he wants now, Dean took the piece of paper and shoved it down deep into his pocket. And he isn't even embarrassed to admit that he practically floated on cloud nine the rest of the way to class.

* * *

He made it to the Gym with a few minutes to spare until the bell rings. Pleasantly enough, Benny and Lisa were in there with him. Unpleasantly enough, Gabriel and Anna Milton were in there, too.

"Hey, Stranger. Long time no see." Benny drawled out in his Louisiana accent as soon as he saw Dean making his way towards them.

Dean rolled his eyes and grinned, "Dude, I just saw you at Bobby's Garage Shop last week."

"Hey, Dean." Lisa greeted, smiling.

At the sight of her, Dean broke out into a dead run and swooped her up in a big bear hug, swinging her around in the air effortlessly, "And how's my favorite girl?"

She laughed as she started to bang her fists lightly on his chest, "Dean, let me go!"

"Sorry, I forgot. Mr. Pre-Med student is gonna get jealous." Dean teased as he reluctantly released her onto the ground.

Lisa rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the huge smile off her face at the mentioning of her new boyfriend, "David is a sweet guy, Dean. He's good to me."

"I bet he's not better than me in the sack, right?" At the look of Lisa's bright red guilty face, Dean knew his answer and started to grin proudly.

"Has Ben finally takin' a likin' to him?" Benny asked her, causing Lisa's smile to drop. Ben is Lisa's eight year old little brother. Lisa used to be a party girl that got wasted every weekend but ever since both of her parents had suddenly died in a car crash a little over seven months ago, she had become Ben's legal guardian and sobered up as she took on a whole lot of responsibility. When Lisa started to date Dean, Ben had taken an extra liking to him instantly and practically worshipped the ground he walked on. But ever since they had finally decided to call it quits for good a few months ago after dating on and off for four years, Ben tries to chase off every guy that comes in a five foot radius of his big sister.

Lisa shrugged as she tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, "He doesn't blatantly glare at him every time he's at the house anymore."

"I can talk to him about it if you want." Dean offered, knowing Ben would probably listen to him.

Lisa smiled her famous grin that always made Dean's heart melt, "Thanks, Dean. That would be great."

Dean liked Lisa. A lot. She gave him everything he could ever possibly want: stability, warm encouragement, a second place to call home, a loving and loyal girlfriend that always laughed at his stupid jokes that nobody else appreciated…but it just never clicked. Sure, their relationship was nice and all…but he wanted something that felt _right_, and that something just wasn't with Lisa. No matter how much he wanted her to be, Lisa wasn't the right girl for him and Dean had finally accepted that. He had broken it off with her and thankfully, they both said no hard feelings and still remained close friends. Now, she's dating an aspiring future doctor named David and Dean…well, Dean still hasn't found his own perfect happy ending yet. Maybe he never will. He doesn't know for sure anymore considering that he's dated and/or slept with almost every girl in this whole school and still hasn't found anyone of them particularly special.

He heard Benny starting to tease Lisa about something that had happen during fourth period as his mind started to drift off yet again to Castiel, his stomach instantly tightening at the thought of seeing him again today. As if the two Miltons had heard his thoughts, Anna and Gabriel's gaze suddenly snap to him as they started to talk to each other in harsh whispers. They looked like they were arguing about something, but Dean wasn't close enough to make out their words. He then saw the two finally stop fighting to glare at him, causing Dean to quickly shift his gaze back to his friends.

But thankfully, the bell finally rang, causing their gym teacher, Gordon Walker, to walk out of his office and tell them to go get changed. Dean used to like Gordon since he was a friend of his dad's and sometimes accompanied them on deer hunting trips, but that all changed when he started to be cruel to Sammy and leer at Jo every time she walked by. But apparently, the guy still hadn't gotten the hint and treated Dean like royalty.

Dean started to walk to the boy's locker room when he was tripped by someone's foot and was sent sailing down to the floor, landing hard flat on his face. Most students started dying laughing as Mr. Walker blew his whistle and shouted, "Gabriel Milton, I don't have any time for your nonsense this year!" _**Of course, **_Dean silently scoffed to himself, _**who else but fucking Gabriel?**_

"It was an accident, Coach. I promise." He heard Gabriel reply a little too innocently as he attempted to get Dean to his feet. But as he was helping Dean up, Gabe leaned in and said lowly in his ear, "I saw your little prank on my baby brother at lunch today, you arrogant asshole. Just don't think your actions won't go unpunished."

Dean swallowed hard and looked up to see Gabriel smiling sweetly (and a tad bit maliciously) at him as he patted the invisible dirt off of his clothes and started walking towards the locker room. Dean began to follow him but threw one last glance over his shoulder only to find Anna staring at him with a glint of hatred and something that looked oddly like curiosity in her eyes before she finally got swept up into a crowd of girls and disappeared into their own locker room. He let out a long breath that he didn't know he was holding and lowered his gaze as he disappeared into the room to get changed, not letting himself forget about the Milton family that probably won't stop until they have Dean's head on a silver platter.

* * *

Thankfully, the period when by and nothing else dangerous nor threatening happened, though Dean knew that wouldn't last for long. _**Note to self: Stay away from Gabriel and his sick twisted mind full of deadly pranks and elements of torture.**_

When the school day finally came to an end, Dean found himself heading toward the detention hall, thinking of all of the possible things he could do for the next longest three hours of his life. But after five minutes of sitting down in a random desk and glaring at the walls, Ms. Tapping suddenly walked into the room. _**Can my day get any worse, **_Dean mentally groaned in his head as his suffering amplified double with the Wicked Witch of the Bitch was here to watch his lonely imprisonment.

"Dean Winchester," Ms. Tapping said in a clear and somewhat disgruntled tone, "Please step out into the hallway with me for a moment." What could she possibly want from him now? _**Probably my immortal soul, **_Dean answered as he slowly got out of his seat and made his way out of the classroom with Ms. Tapping following close at his heels. As soon as she shut the door and put her cold unforgiving eyes on him, Dean couldn't help but think dreadfully, _**this will be the day I die.**_

"I'm relieving you of your afternoon detentions." She told him stiffly, making it obvious she wasn't happy about what she saying.

Okay, not what he was expecting.

"E-Excuse me?" He stuttered out, his eyes wide in shock and not really believing what he had just heard.

Ms. Tapping sighed, "My nephew has informed me of his project with you and persuaded me to terminate your afternoon sentencing of detention for the duration of your assignment together."

At first, he didn't know what she was talking about until something clicked in his mind, "You mean Cas?"

"His name is _Castiel_," She snapped, "There should be no reason to shorten and butcher a perfectly good name with a lazy replacement. And to your question: yes, I am his aunt."

Dean gulped and nodded, "Um…lucky him."

"Yes, I don't want his grades to suffer at the unfortunate luck of being stuck with someone like yourself as a partner."

Dean tried his hardest not to glare at the pompous bitch and put up his most convincing fake smile, "Yes, Ma'am."

She nodded, "He will be allowed to work on the project with you for one hour outside of school only on Tuesdays and Thursdays." She paused before adding, "And Dean?"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Castiel better not receive a bad grade on his paper because of your laziness and incompetence or you will be answering to me personally. Is that clear?"

Dean locked his jaw, "Of course, Ms. Tapping."

She smiled, "Good. Now, get off of school grounds this instance."

Dean forced up a smile as he walked towards the door, "Yes, of course. It was an absolute _pleasure_ to see you again, Ma'am."

"This does not affect your morning detention, Mr. Winchester." Ms. Tapping called after him as he quickly left the building, "I want to see you in the detention hall bright and early tomorrow morning!"

Dean rolled his eyes, knowing he wouldn't be able to get off of sentencing completely. He made his way over to the Impala only to find Sam standing impatiently beside it. _**Oh shit, I forgot about Sammy, **_Dean realized, knowing that if it wasn't for Castiel and his magnificent ability to control his bitchy aunt, Sam would have waited there for three whole hours before Dean would've finally found him. Yea, that wouldn't have gone over good with the parents.

"Dean, where the hell have you been?" Sam demanded once he finally saw Dean moving towards him, "I've been waiting for, like, ten minutes!"

"Stop your complaining, Princess. I just had to talk to the principal for a few minutes after school." He told him as he unlocked the door and got into the driver's seat.

"What about?" Sam asked as he climbed into the car and buckled in.

Dean shrugged as he started the engine and began to pull out of the parking lot, "Just stuff, that's all."

"Did you get into trouble or anything?"

Dean sighed, "It's no big deal, Sam. Just that Mom or Ellen will be driving you to school for the next couple weeks, okay?"

"Was it because of me?" He asked, furrowing his brow as he gazed sadly at his big brother.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Of course not. You know me; always having trouble with authority and all that other jazz."

Sam nodded and smiled, deciding to change the subject, "So how was your day?"

He started to grin uncontrollably, "It was good. Really good, actually. How about you?"

Sam began to beam, "It was _amazing_! I met tons of new people and all my teachers love me! Like, one time in sixth period…" Sam prattled on and on about his day and Dean tried his best to listen, but his thoughts always seemed to lead back to Cas and how he had literally saved Dean's life from dying of boredom and getting heavily scolded by his parents. He then remembered that he was supposed to see him again today and desperately tried to convince himself that the butterflies in his stomach probably meant nothing.

* * *

As soon as he got home, Dean darted into his bedroom and dug out Castiel's phone number that was wedged deep in his pocket. He typed it into his contacts and started to write him a text message:

To: Cas

From: Dean

Hi, thnks for gettin me off of detention with ur aunt. U can cum here early now if u want –Dean

He hit send and waited anxiously for his reply, hoping Cas didn't just prank him with a fake number and isn't laughing at his expense right now (even though he doubted that was true, a guy can't help but worry). Dean didn't have to wait long though before his cellphone started to buzz:

To: Dean

From: Cas

Hello, Dean. It was no trouble getting Naomi to reconsider your punishment. She takes my studies very seriously so it didn't take much to convince her to let you go. Are you okay with me coming over to your house at five?

Dean instantly typed his reply and hit send:

To: Cas

From: Dean

Five's cool. I'll be here at my house. U remember my address?

Dean waited only a few moments before Castiel replied back:

To: Dean

From: Cas

I remember your address perfectly, Dean. I'll be at your house a five o'clock.

Dean didn't even try to wipe the huge goofy grin off his face as he raced down the stairs to try and act normal for the remaining one hour, thirty-three minutes, and fifty-two seconds. Not that he was counting, of course.

* * *

**Author's Note: What? Lisa not being a jealous bitchy whore and instead a delightful and kind character? Yea, I haven't seen Lisa being a good person in most fanfics (but it's perfectly okay if you see her that way and sometimes, it's a necessity to the plot) and I decided to do something different since I absolutely adored Lisa and Ben and it killed me what they did to them (not saying because of spoilers). But, my unpopular opinion aside, what did you think of this chapter? It kinda sucked in my head but maybe (and by maybe I mean hopefully) you thought differently and if that's so, please feel free to review (I do feel the need to inform you that next chapter will be much better, too)! Also don't be shy to suggest a certain pairing that you would like to see in here either. As long as it won't affect the outline I have for this story, I'd be happy to add it in here. But until next time, Beautifuls!**


	5. Definitely Just A Friend

**Author's Note: Aw, you guys are so sweet for all of this kind feedback I've been receiving! I know this fic would probably be collecting dust right now if it wasn't for everyone's flattering and heart-warming comments. To thefatcat25: You are really nice and I'm glad at least somebody reads my off topic author's notes (and I'd be happy to put some Jo/Charlie for you, too :D). But enough of my stupid ramblings and over-bearing (yet totally true) compliments, get started reading the newest (long) chapter! **

* * *

If Dean's family had noticed his excited tone and slightly anxious stance as he told them that he was going to have a friend over, they didn't comment on it…much.

"Oh, is Lisa coming?" His mother asked him as she settled down on the couch next to Sam. Dean's father was pulling a double shift at the shop tonight, so it'd just be the three of them for the rest of the evening until midnight when he finally clocks out and comes home.

Dean shook his head as he decided to plop down on the recliner chair so he'd finally stop nervously pacing around the living room, "Nah, just some boy from school."

He looked over to the two just in time to see their surprised and slightly curious expressions, causing him to shrug, "What?"

"You're getting twitchy and flustered over a _boy_ coming to see you?" Mary tried to ask casually, though some of her shock was evident in her tone.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Mom, get your head out of the gutter. I said I was having a _friend_ over. Definitely just a friend."

"Sounds to me like a _boyfriend_." Sam teased, earning a death glare from Dean.

"Shut up, Bitch, I wasn't talking to you."

Their mother sighed, knowing yet another sibling brawl was soon coming on and deciding it was an ideal time to quickly change the subject, "So what's this mystery boy's name, Honey?"

Dean's gaze instantly snapped downward and he found himself smiling shyly as he answered, "Um…Castiel."

He saw Sam's eyes widen out of the corner of his eye and he prayed that his little brother won't bring up the lunchroom fiasco in front of their mother. But Dean isn't that lucky (anymore, that is).

"Whoa, even after what you did to him at lunch today." _**Well, I did find out that he was lying to me about everything so I think we're even **_was what he wanted to say, but Dean didn't want the remaining time before Cas comes to be all about speculation on the boy considering that it would make him even more nervous than he already was.

So instead he just sighed irritably and rolled his eyes, "Let's just say a lot of other shit hit the fan after that, okay? Me and Cas have already moved on from that and we're all good now."

Mary looked between her two boys and arched an eyebrow suspiciously, "Excuse me?"

"Dean—" Sam began but one murderous look from his much stronger and aggressive older brother, he stopped abruptly and started again, "Uh…Dean took Castiel's homemade apple pie from him and ate it. He was pretty upset." If it was about anyone else, it would have been the stupidest, most obvious lie on the whole planet, but we're talking about Dean Winchester here; the boy can't control himself around that culinary pastry and it has gotten him in hot water from time to time ("Dean, did you eat that pecan pie I made for the Johnsons?!" "Mom, we've already established that I have a sickening addiction. If you want to stage an intervention, line up right behind Sammy and Ellen." "You mean you're 'the sneaky son of a bitch' that stole her award winning blueberry pie last week?" "Shut up, I know I have problem! Don't rub it in!").

But Mary, after learning to shuffle through the truth from total bullshit because of all of Dean's fake report cards he's given her over the years, saw through Sam's feeble attempt of a lie and looked warningly to her oldest son, "Dean Henry Winchester, what on earth was your brother talking about before you put the fear of God into him?"

Dean tried hard to keep the smirk off his face as he pretended to look utterly offended, "Mother, I am insulted! What do take me for—a manipulative and domineering bully? I would never _ever _try to control and terrorizing my baby brother like that. Ain't that right, Sammy?" Sam gave him one of his signature bitch faces that read as "don't push it" and Dean knew it was time to back off before Sam blows the whistle on their top secret operation of pure bullshit. So he just decided to lean back and try hard to focus on the television screen, though he always found himself checking the time every other minute as the wait until five o'clock slowly ticked by.

* * *

He was so invested in the television showing of "Die Hard," a movie he's seen over a million times but never gotten tired of, Dean almost didn't hear the doorbell ring. But as his mother rose from the couch to answer it, all of his jumpy nerves suddenly jolted back into his body as he shot out of his seat and darted towards the door, "Don't worry, Mom. I'll get it!"

"Um…okay, Sweetheart." He heard his mom answer back, obviously puzzled at his eagerness since usually she has to threaten to withhold his food supply to force him to answer it (and hell, if Dean was honest with himself, he's kind of freaked out by his instant reaction, too) but luckily, she didn't comment on it.

Dean made it to the door in a matter of second, but his hand hovered over the doorknob for much longer than necessary. His nerves have exploded inside his stomach and Dean started to sweat anxiously. _**What if Cas becomes disgusted of my terribly small and cramped house? What if he finally realizes how boring I am and decides not to waste his time on me anymore? What if—**_

_**Stop acting like you grew a vagina and be a man, **_Dean ordered himself firmly as he forced his hand to grasp the doorknob and jerk the door open. He then found himself faced with Castiel, who was still dressed in his proper suit and huge heavy trench coat even though it was freaking eighty degrees outside, standing at the door smiling at him, "Hello, Dean."

At the sound of his voice, all anxiety suddenly disappeared and was soon replaced with a certain warm gooey feeling as Dean found himself beginning to grin back at him, "About time you showed up, Man."

Cas cocked his head, "Am I late? I was almost certain I would arrive on time considered that I had done the calculations for the exact fifteen minutes it took to get here along with even planning for unexpected setbacks—"

"But while you were explaining all of that nerd junk to me just now," Dean began with a smirk as he casted a glance down at his watch, "The clock had already switched to exactly 5:01pm. So since I hadn't _technically_ let you in yet, you're late."

"Well, if you had invited me inside instead of interrogating me on what the actual time was, I would've made it and this whole ordeal could have been avoided." Cas pointed out in an irritated tone, though his small smile betrayed him by showing he wasn't all that upset.

Dean chuckled and opened his mouth to reply when his mother's voice interrupted him, "Dean, stop squabbling with your little friend and invite him in already."

Dean's smile dropped into an annoyed scowl as he ordered himself not to blush in embarrassment and stepped out of the doorway to let Castiel through. Cas smiled victoriously, "Thank you, Dean. Though I wished you would have let me inside of your own free will instead of just following orders from your mother, I appreciate the hospitality nonetheless."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Shut up."

"Is this the famous Castiel we've been hearing so much about?" Mary asked smiling as she entered the room with Sam following close behind. Dean sighed and wished he could have just snuck his trench coat wearing friend to his room without the other two's knowledge so he wouldn't have to go through the upcoming humiliation he knew his family would bring upon him. But there was no freaking fairy godmother around (unless you count Sam, that it) so wishing is fruitless.

Castiel smiled politely at them but his slightly puzzled expression made it clear he was surprised Dean had spoken about him, "Yes, my name is Castiel. You must be Dean's mother, correct?"

Mary nodded as she affectionately ruffled her son's dirty blonde hair (much to Dean's obvious dismay), "Yea, he's my oldest."

"Hey, Castiel." Sam piped up, beaming at the older boy like he was a fucking prophet or something.

Cas nodded in acknowledgement at him, "Good evening, Sam Winchester. It's delightful to see you again."

Mary furrowed her brow in confusion, "You know Sam?"

Before Dean had the chance to reply, Sam had already rolled his eyes and sighed, "Mom, he was the boy that shared a room with Dean at the hospital."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I don't remember seeing you." Mary apologized to Cas, obviously embarrassed.

"Most people rarely do," Cas said plainly before sweeping his gaze around the area and changing the subject, "This is a lovely house, Mrs. Winchester."

Mary seemed a little thrown off by his first statement and didn't answer for a few seconds until she finally forced herself to reply, "Um…yes, thank you. We first bought it when I was pregnant with Dean."

"You and your husband?"

She nodded, "I was only eighteen at the time while John was a few years older."

After Castiel was finished looking over the house, he set his gaze on Mary and smiled, "It creates a very warm and inviting environment, Mrs. Winchester. Most of the houses I've been to are quite desolate and lonely. But that's only because most of my father's business associates are rarely married and usually live by themselves in an overly extensive household."

"And who is your father?"

Cas froze for a moment and Dean feared his mother had offended him somehow, but he finally just cocked his head and said coolly, "Do you mean my actual father or just the man I've been commanded to call my male parent figure ever since I was forced into his custody?"

Mary's eyes widened as her mouth fell halfway open and started stuttering, "Um—"

"Well, this has been fun," Dean interrupted cheerfully, feeling the awkwardness becoming too much for him as he started to push Castiel to the stairs, "But me and Cas have to get started on our English paper."

Mary slowly nodded, "Uh…okay, Sweetie. You two have fun. I'll come and get you guys when supper is ready." Dean forced a smile and said goodbye before marching to his room, dragging Castiel along with him.

* * *

"Your family's even nicer than I had imagined." Castiel informed him as he followed Dean to his bedroom.

Dean scoffed, "Oh yea, we're the regular Waltons."

"I thought your last name was Winchester?"

Dean stopped dead in his tracks and looked back to Castiel, arching an eyebrow, "Would it kill you to read a book or watch a movie?"

Cas furrowed his brow, "Well, I suppose that if I watched a movie on television in an extremely close proximity or strain my eyes to read a book in the dark, it could potentially harm my eyesight. However, I don't believe it could end my life."

Dean couldn't help but laugh and swing one arm around the other boy's shoulder, pulling him toward his bedroom, "Don't ever change, Cas."

Castiel stared at him questionably because of his statement and physical contact before nodding and saying slowly, "I will try my best, Dean."

Dean grinned wildly and swung his bedroom door open, finally releasing his hold on Castel and flopping down onto his bed, "So…how should we get started on this stupid thing?"

Castiel shrugged as he took out a big heavy red notebook from his coat, "I suppose we start asking each other questions first."

Dean froze as his eyes widened in realization of what they were actually here to do. _**Shit, I was so focused on just the idea of having Castiel over, I forgot to actually fill out any questions at all. God, I'm such an idiot.**_

"Um…why don't you start?" Dean suggested somewhat nervously, trying to stall as he shuffles through his mind to come up with reasonable questions to ask about Castiel. He can just picture what he's going to blurt out now: _**So, is you hotness genetic or did you just get the luck of the draw? Oh god, what if I actually said that? Hell, I'd start pounding the nails in my coffin myself if that shit actually went down.**_

Dean was so focused on his inner thoughts of anxiety and nervousness, he didn't notice that Castiel had slipped onto the bed and moved right next to Dean until he felt Cas' body warmth next to his._** Holy shit, Dean, don't you dare get aroused, **_he ordered himself as his heart started to beat hard against his ribcage, _**this is a boy we're talking about—a fucking BOY; not a girl, but an actual BOY that you totally don't like as anything else other than a friend…with benefits. What the fuck? Don't think like that! You are a proud WOMANizer and that is it!**_

"…Dean, are you even listening to me?" Cas' concerned voice finally broke through his daze of denial, causing Dean to jerk his head up where it was only just an inch from Castiel's face. They were close now—so close that Dean could faintly feel Castiel's minty breath mingling with his own. He then noticed that Cas had stopped speaking and just gazed at Dean with wide fearful eyes. Dean swallowed hard and subconsciously licked his lips, earning a strange shiver from Castiel. _**What? Is it cold in here or something? **_Dean didn't think it was too cold; actually he thought it was pretty freaking hot all of a sudden. Steaming hot, really. Before he even knew what he was doing, Dean felt himself tilting his head and slowly leaning in. _**Stop, Dean, we've already established that you're straight. Did you hear me, dammit?! You're strai—**_

As Dean's lips were just about to brush against Castiel's, his bedroom door swung open and Sam appeared in the doorway, "Hey, Guys, Mom wanted—" He stopped abruptly at the very compromising sight of the two and Dean suddenly snapped back into his senses as he jerked back and sent a murderous look over at his younger brother, "_Don't you knock?!_"

"I uh…" Sam started but trailed off, his eyes darting between the two boys on the bed with a very confused and slightly frightened expression, "Um…a-am I interrupting something?"

"We're doing our project, Bitch. Now what do you want?" Dean snapped, trying to fight off his puzzling disappointment that strangely began to spread through his whole body.

Sam swallowed hard, "Um, Mom wanted to know if you guys wanted anything to drink or something."

Dean sighed and forced the tension to leave his body as he looked to Cas, who was staring wide eyed at him with a flabbergasted expression (and yes, his expression was so surprised that Dean had to bring out the word 'flabbergasted' just to describe it), "You want somethin', Cas?" As he addressed the other boy, his voice had suddenly grew rougher and his fingers started to tightly grip his bed sheets.

"Um…n-no, I'm f-fine, Sam. T-Tell Mrs. Winchester I s-said thanks a-anyway." Cas stuttered out, casting his gaze downward to stare hard at his notebook with a pensive look on his face.

Sam nodded slowly and stayed planted at the doorway, causing Dean to roll his eyes, "Sam, we got a lot of stuff to do. Can you please leave us alone already?"

Sam shot him a look that read as "we are so talking about this later" before finally shutting the door, leaving just Dean, Cas, and the terribly awkward silence between them.

"So…" Dean began after a few long painful minutes of deafening silence, "You were talking about questions earlier?"

"Y-Yes, I believe I was," Cas replied in an edgy tone, flipping his notebook open and staring down at the front page, refusing to meet Dean's gaze, "I think we should start on your past. Please, tell me when you were born."

"January 24, 1995."

"Okay," Cas muttered under his breath, scribbling his answer down quickly, "So what about your childhood?"

Dean arched an eyebrow at him but Cas didn't see since his eyes were still focused on that damn notebook, "Um…it was fine, I guess. I've lived in this house my whole life, kids never give me any shit 'cause they know I'd kick his asses, Sammy's always been a pain in my ass but he's sort of tolerable as far as annoying little brothers go, Mom and Dad are still the best…" He trailed off for a short moment before shrugging, "I've had a pretty sweet life so far. And hey, I was one hell of a badass kid; make sure you write that part down."

Cas wrote down his answers and asked, "What about your family? Cousins? Uncles? Grandparents?"

Dean sighed and looked to the floor, "Uh…I don't see any of my grandparents that often. My dad's pop skipped out on him to join the army and his mom died right after that. And my mom's parents don't usually come around that much since they hate Dad's guts. Something about stealing their precious daughter away from the family Taxidermy business and making her into a simple housewife. I only see them when Dad is out of town or working late on the holidays. And cousins? I don't think I have any except for Ash and Jo, but I'm not kin to them by blood or anything."

"Yes, blood isn't always thicker than water," Cas agreed softly as he wrote his answer down quickly before moving on, "And if you don't mind me asking, is Robert Singer related to you or no?"

Dean smiled, "Last time I called him Robert, I was nine year old and got the whippin' that wouldn't let me sit easy for two weeks." He saw Cas smile gently and sneak a quick glance at him before settling his eyes back on the pages as Dean continued, "And no, Bobby isn't my real uncle. But he's been my dad's best friend and apart of our family for as long as I can remember; hell, probably even longer than that. He's a gruff, cranky old drunk but he treats me like his own. Actually, I think he sort of wanted kids a long time ago, but that was before his wife, Aunt Karen, got sick…and it didn't pan out too well in the long run. Long story short, me and Sammy are the pain in the asses that he's always wanted."

Cas nodded, "What about Ellen Harvelle? How did she become a key role model in your life?"

"That was all because of Bill Harvelle. He was my dad's old hunting buddy and our two families have always mingled together. But then on one of their annual retreats, Bill got into a horrible hunting accident when I was still a kid—Hell, I don't even know to this day what really happened since Dad always got pissed off when I asked about it—and we helped the Harvelle survive through their mourning period." Dean paused for a moment before adding, "Actually, now that I think about it, Ellen couldn't even be in the same room as my dad for the first few months after the accident…but I'm pretty sure that was only because he reminded her of Bill so much."

"And what are your feelings for her daughter, Jo?" Casa asked suddenly in a strange tone as his grip on his pencil tightened slightly, "I recall that the two of you used to date."

Dean scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Yea, for like a month in eighth grade. But it practically felt borderline incestuous so we broke it off. Honestly, she's like the annoying little sister I never wanted."

Cas smiled, seeming more pleased and satisfied with that answer than the other ones, "Thank you. That was very informative."

"But Jo is quite a catch. I mean, I could hook you two up if you…" Dean trailed off and instantly wanted to slap himself for his careless ignorance.

Cas grinned and finally rested his blue eyes on him as his hand grasped the fabric of his green dress shirt, "Dean, I had assumed I made myself clear about my true sexual orientation."

Dean felt his face heat up as he averted his gaze and nodded shyly, "Yea, sorry. I forgot."

Cas' smile widened at his embarrassment and looked down at his questions, "Okay, now let us start listing your likes and dislikes—"

"Wait, shouldn't I be interviewing you, too?" Dean pointed out, thinking that his boring life story was done with and enthralled to find out more about his dear Castiel.

Cas remained silent for a fracture of a second before finally uttering flatly, "Trust me, Dean, you're a whole lot more interesting than I could ever be."

"I highly doubt that, Cas," Dean declared firmly as he forced Castiel to look him in the eye, "Believe me when I say that you are the most fascinating and peculiar creature I've ever had the fortunate luck to meet, and I would _love _to finally see how you tick." Damn, that came out way more creepy and sexual than he had intended. But he couldn't take it back now so he just held his ground and drilled his eyes into Castiel's, entrapping him in a trance until he finally stops being so stubborn and gives in.

It didn't take long before Castiel finally relented and began in a soft voice, "My official name is Castiel Milton. I was adopted into the Milton family when I was only seven years, leaving just my real mother to fight against the odds and struggle to successfully raise my younger sister, Claire. I have a strange fondness for honey bees and freshly pollenated flowers, playing chess with my uncle, trying fruitlessly to teach Gabriel about the importance of a person's dental health and how it isn't healthy for such a small person to consume as many sweets as he does, writing poetry about the delightful yet oddly puzzling world and society we are forced to live in today, and yearning to finally leave this forsaken town the moment after graduation and head toward my dream college and future safe haven away from all of the idiotic Neanderthals here: Amherst University, located in the glorious state of Massachusetts that luckily is far away from damn Kansas." Dean couldn't mask his surprise at Castiel's cursing (sure, he's heard worse but listening to Cas using profanities is kind of like hearing your sweet old grandmother say the F word) and waited for him to continue…but he never did. Instead he just stared at his hands defiantly and simply refused to even acknowledge Dean's existence.

"Cas," Dean finally said after what seemed like an eternity of silence, "I have a strange feeling there's something you're not telling me. Now if I'm imagining it, call me a nut job and let's move on, but if not…" He trailed off before clearing his throat and forcing himself to finish, "Then please enlighten me before I find out from someone else."

"Well, unfortunately, I'm not going to elaborate further…not now, anyway. I still don't know your motive yet. But when I finally discover it, then perhaps we could negotiate on sharing my information."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Motive?"

Cas rolled his eyes and looked at him like it was the obvious thing in the whole world, "Your motive of befriending me, of course."

Dean couldn't stop the hurt that dripped out of his heart and into his voice, "Cas…do you honestly think I'm just _using_ you?"

Cas sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor, "Everyone always has something in it for them when they choose to recognize my existence. It's been that way ever since I can remember." He let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair, "But what I don't understand is your kindness towards me. You're _Dean Winchester _for crying out loud!And me? I'm the lonely loser that stays in the shadows." He stopped and nervously chewed on his bottom lip for a few moments before he finally forced himself to relax and let his voice soften, "Look, Dean, I just want to know what you want before I begin to allow myself to truly enjoy your company instead of just worrying about accidentally crossing an invisible line that separates this," He made a gesture between him and Dean with his hands, "From reality."

"I don't understand." Dean admitted bluntly, now thoroughly confused on what the hell Castiel was talking about.

"Why me, Dean? Just _why_?" Cas blurted out angrily, stormy blue eyes demanding him to answer, "Why are you so dead set on befriending _me _of all people?"

Dean's throat felt like it was coated in sawdust as his question rang through his ears, _'Why are you so dead set on befriending me of all people?' _Yes, out of the thousand of residents that were stationed here in Lawrence that he could have with just a snap of his fingers, why was he so fixated on such a difficult boy like Castiel? What on earth makes him so special? Why are his blue eyes just so damn fascinating with their millions of different hues that demand to be recognized and counted? Why does Dean find it so freaking endearing when Cas misses a pop culture reference or speaks like he's from the freaking eighteen hundreds? Why does the sound of his voice send shivers down his spine and make him desperate to hear more? Why?

"I'll let you know when I figure that out, okay?" Dean told him finally after a minute of pure silence.

Castiel pursed his lips together, clearly not satisfied with Dean's vague answer, but thankfully he just let out an exasperated sigh and glanced back down at his notebook, "Anything else I need to know about the infamous Dean Winchester then?"

Dean instantly relaxed at the glorious change of subject and smiled lazily at him, "Okay, I'm an Aquarius. I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women."

Cas looked up at him and cracked a smile, "That sounds strangely accurate. Is that it?'

Dean sighed and thought about it for a second before finally saying, "Well…I'm hopelessly in love with my baby—a beautiful '67 Chevy Impala, I would honestly consider killing a man for a slice of apple pie, and I love my baby brother dearly and will kick anybody's ass if they fuck with him. I like hunting with my dad while I secretly love to belt out the lyrics to 'Can't Fight This Feeling' by REO Speedwagon with Jo." He suddenly grabbed Cas' wrist and tried to look mockingly threatening, "And if you put that last part in that stupid essay, I will become your worst nightmare."

Cas grinned and held up his hands in mock surrender, "You have my word, Dean. Anything more I need to know?"

"Um…I always hum Metallica to calm me down, I get scared shitless when I'm forced to fly in an airplane, and I firmly believe that all members of Led Zeppelin are prophets from God."

Castiel wrote down his answers and shyly looked up at him, "I just have one more question and then we'll be done for the day, alright?"

"Lay it on me."

"What's your favorite color, Dean?"

If anyone had asked him this question a few months ago, Dean would have said red without any hesitation whatsoever. The color red was what everything Dean stood for in life: passion, aggression, intensity, desire, and sex. But somehow, a more easy going and temperate color appeared much more appealing to him.

"Blue," Dean answered softly before he even knew what he was saying, "Deep Ocean blue."

Cas smiled and suddenly flushed a faint pink as he shakily wrote it down, "Thank you, Dean. I believe this is enough for one day."

"What about you, Cas?" Dean blurted out, "What's your favorite?"

Castiel's smile slowly slipped into a smirk as he leaned into Dean until his lips barely brushed his ear and said lowly in a rough, gravelly voice, "I believe that a light mossy jaded green is _by far_ my _favorite_ color." Dean's heart hammered in his chest as his pants suddenly became a little tighter.

"U-Uh, u-um…" Dean started sputtering as he desperately tried to hide his bottom half that dared to get aroused by Castiel hypnotic drop of pitch.

Castiel leaned back and his smirk grew (the little bastard) before he started to get his things together, "I'm sorry to depart but I believe our time is up."

Dean nodded dumbly as he stumbled out of his bed and stood up, "I-I'll walk you out, I guess."

Cas nodded and looked like he was the naïve, innocent boy Dean had known him to be (though now Dean was debating on whether it was all an act or not) as he got to his feet and walked out of the room with Dean following close behind, wondering what the hell just happened between them.

* * *

As they were walking down the stairs, they ran into Mary already coming up. She smiled, "I was just coming up to get you two. Supper's ready."

Cas looked up to the clock and smiled apologetically at her (and damn, Dean's never seen another person look so fucking sincere), "I am so terribly sorry, Mrs. Winchester, but my family is expecting me home at six o'clock sharp. If I'm even a minute late, I'll never hear the end of it." He stuck out his hand, "But it was such a pleasure to finally formally meet you, Ma'am. Thank you again for your warm hospitality."

Mary looked disappointed (apparently she was looking forward to speaking to Castiel more, though Dean wasn't sure why) but smiled politely and shook his hand, "It was nice to meet you, too, Castiel. Come back any time." It was obvious Castiel knew he didn't have that privilege (not with his family breathing down his neck, of course) but he smiled warmly anyway and told her he will.

"You leavin' already, Cas?" Sam asked as he poked his head out of his room to stare down at them. Dean didn't like how he called him _Cas _(that was his trademark and damn it if he didn't already want to sue for copyright) but didn't say anything.

Cas looked up to him and nodded, "Unfortunately yes, but I will see you tomorrow in Band, correct?"

Sam grinned and nodded enthusiastically while Dean just furrowed his brow in confusion, "Excuse me?"

His little brother rolled his eyes, "Dean, I told you all of this on the ride home from school. Weren't you listening?" _**Sorry, I was too busy daydreaming about the boy beside me.**_

"Oh yea, I remember." Dean lied obviously before switching his gaze to Castiel, "You're a band nerd?"

"Dean!" His mother scolded though Cas looked not at all offended.

"Indeed, I'm first chair trumpet player." Cas told him—or more like _bragged _to him as though he had won the freaking Nobel Prize.

"He let me sit beside him and Balthazar." Sam informed him, making Dean stiffen and begin to taste a certain metallic flavor in his mouth.

"Balthazar, huh?" Dean grounded out as he forced a cool tone, "You sit by Balthazar often, Cas?" _**Shit, Dean, you sound like a freaking insecure jealous girlfriend.**_

Apparently his mother thought so too as she eyed him strangely while it seemed to go right over Castiel's head as he just furrowed his brow and cocked his head, "Of course, he is my friend. Well, I suppose he is. He seems to enjoy my company as I do his. Does that count as a friend?"

Dean bit the inside of his cheek and nodded, "Maybe, but no offense, the guy's a _major _douche." He saw Cas give him a more puzzled look and Dean felt compelled to continue, "I mean, you could do _so _much better than some over-dramatic dork," He then smiled broadly and clasped Castiel's shoulder, "Good thing you got me now, right?"

Cas seemed thoroughly confused now but nodded along with him anyway, "Yes, I have come to the conclusion that we must be friends now, is that correct?"

Dean nodded, oddly pleased with his answer, and lead Cas all the way down the rest of the stairs, feeling Sam and Mary's piercing gaze on his back. He followed Cas out the door and expected to see some big-ass fancy limousine or something (he is a Milton, after all), but was surprised to see Cas beginning to walk down the street.

"Hey, did you walk here?" Dean called after him, causing Cas to stop and turn around.

He saw Castiel grimace and nod glumly, "All my family went on strike and refused to drive me to your household," He paused before adding, "Forgive me for being frank, but I don't think they like you very much."

Dean cracked a smile, "Well, let's just say they ain't my cup of tea either."

Cas smiled and said goodbye before turning back around and resuming his journey all the way to the other side of town. Dean only hesitated for a fracture of a second before giving in and shouting, "Hey, Novak, get your ass back here so I can drive you!"

Castiel stopped dead in his tracks but didn't turn around, "Why on earth would you do that?" _**Yes, Dean, why would we do that?**_

Dean cleared his throat, "Um…because I want to show off my baby, of course." It's complete bullshit (Dean won't even drive Sam anywhere until his dad threatens homicide) but luckily, Cas didn't notice (that, or just decided not to comment) as he hesitantly replied, "If it's not too much trouble, Dean."

He shook his head, "Nah, my baby needs the exercise anyway." Dean waited until Cas finally reached before he ran inside his house to get his keys. Unfortunately, he left them in the kitchen and had to pass his family to get them.

"Hey, I'm takin' Cas home, okay?" Dean told Sam and Mary flatly, turning back around to face the door only to see Castiel had followed him inside. _**Oh that's just fucking fantastic. Let my complete humiliation begin.**_

"But, Dean, the new episode of Dr. Sexy MD is almost on." Sam pointed out, grinning when he saw his older brother flush in humiliation.

Dean chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head, "You mean wrestling, right? 'Cause I _so _don't watch that stupid chick show." He looked to Cas and saw the dick writing his discovery down on his notebook. Instantly, Dean jerked the notebook out of Castiel's guilty and mischievous grasp, "And if you try to put that in the assignment, I swear I will light this damn notebook on fire and throw it in your fucking window."

Cas pretended to look innocent, "What? I was just writing that you liked wrestling—not a sappy soap opera aimed at feminine audiences to watch and fawn over a poor resemblance of a medical physician that apparently wears cowboy boots to appear more attractive."

Dean started to grin and arched an eyebrow, "And how do you know all that stuff, Cas?"

Castiel scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Oh please, don't get too excited. Gabriel just forces me to watch that idiotic television show with him as some sort of a 'bonding experience.'"

Dean glared at him, "Shut up."

Cas sighed and reached for his notebook, but Dean shoved his hands away childishly.

Castiel shot him a dirty look, "Dean, give me my notebook back. It has all of my classroom notes in it."

Dean snorted, "Okay, first of all, who in their right mind would write _notes_ on the first day?" Cas opened his mouth to answer him but Dean held up a hand to shush to him as he continued, "Second of all, I will give you back your nerd journal only if you admit that cowboy boots are undeniably sexy."

Cas rolled his eyes, "Dean, cowboy boots are not attractive. They only invented them for farmers and ranchers to have a special footwear product to ride horses and because the cowhide made the other animal's dung and mud slide off of them more easily. I'm sorry but I don't see anything 'sexy' about boots with crusted feces and dirt on them."

"Cas, you have to admit that I am pretty sexy on my own, but I'm a whole lot sexier in cowboy boots." Dean then looked to Mary, "Come on, Mom, back me up on this one."

Mary watched the two boys in fascination for another moment before smiling sweetly at Dean and pinching his cheek, "I think you're adorable in anything you have on, Sweetie. You could wear footy pajamas for the rest of your adult life and I'd still think you're cute as a button."

Cas and Sam laughed while Dean just stared at her in horror, "How dare you turn against _your own son _like that?! How could _my own mother _side with the enemy?!"

Castiel was smiling brightly but it soon dropped once he saw what time it was, "We really must be going, Dean. It's almost six and Naomi will crucify me if I'm late."

Dean sighed sadly, "I really wish I could help you out, Man, but first you gotta admit it."

Cas scowled and glared at him, "Dean Winchester?"

"I'm listening."

"Cowboy boots are by far the most sexiest clothing accessory I've ever seen on a man in all my sixteen years of existence." There was a defiant pause, "May we please go now?"

Dean smirked and winked at him as he tossed the notebook to Cas, "I knew you'd come around sooner or later." Cas rolled his eyes in response and just stomped his way towards the door.

Dean followed after him and was almost out the door when he heard Sam's voice ask, "But what about your show, Dean?"

He sighed and looked back at him, "I'll watch _wrestling _later, okay? Now goodbye." Dean ignored his brother's shocked look (hell, Dean's skipped Sam's stupid science fairs five times in a row and even a freaking wedding just to watch Dr. Sexy work his magic) and walked out of the house. They climbed into the Impala and Dean first put in his favorite Metallica cassette tape before starting up the engine.

"Just listen to her purr, Cas." Dean cooed as he pulled out onto the street.

The first half of the drive was filled with comfortable silence with Dean's eyes darting to the passenger seat every now and then to prove that this wasn't a dream or hallucination and he was actually alone in the car with Castiel. Yea, because that so helps him keep his entire focus on the deserted road.

"What is this obnoxiously loud guitar riffs and overly played aggressive beats called again?" Cas asked suddenly.

Dean arched an eyebrow, "That's called good music, Cas."

"If that is what you believe, I suppose." The boy muttered under his breath, casting his gaze out the window.

"Oh yea? And what kind of music do you listen to?" Dean demanded, slightly offended by his (totally stupid and untrue) opinion.

Cas stayed silent for a moment before shrugging, "I don't believe I have listened to any certain type of music to form any sort of preference."

Dean slammed on the brakes.

"You're telling me you don't listen to music?" He demanded breathlessly, staring at Cas wide eyed like he was a mad man.

Cas shook his head, apparently not seeing the total gravity of this situation, "No, I usually listen to Mother Nature's sounds of life like birds chirping on a sunny day or trees whipping in the cool autumn breeze—"

"You don't listen to music," Dean repeated dumbly, "Like, never?"

Cas sighed, "Well, whenever I hang out with Meg, she makes me listen to a 'Fall Out Boy' and I think it is sort of decent. It doesn't make my ears want to bleed like those sickening show tunes Balthazar always wants to belt out every time he hears them." He cocked his head, "Does that count?"

Dean groaned, "Oh you've been depraved of real rock and roll, my dear child." He paused before adding, "And if you think fucking _Fall Out Boy _is better than Metallica, our friendship might be in jeopardy."

Cas jerked his head around to stare at him, looking slightly hurt, "You would terminate our companionship just because our differ of opinions?" _**Dude, I just changed my favorite color for you. Of course not.**_

Dean pretended to think about it for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh, "Nah, I suppose you're just a wayward child mistaking emo guys in tight jeans and eye liner to be actual musicians. Speaking of wayward, you gotta listen to the band Kansas, Dude. They are _legendary_!"

Castiel gave him a small relieved smile, "Thank you, Dean."

Dean bobbed his head and started rambling as he began to drive down the road again, "But Led Zeppelin, Man. Now rhat's where it's at."

"Dean, I don't think that an aircraft made of lead would be able to operate functionally in the sky."

"You're incredibly frustrating sometimes, Cas." _**And I think I kinda like it, **_Dean added quietly in his head.

Cas smiled at him and it gave Dean's heart a tight squeeze, but he proceeded to ignore it and focused hard on getting to the Milton household.

* * *

When he had finally made it to the Milton's house, he pulled the car to a stop and switched off the engine. Cas smiled and thanked him for the ride before opening the car door to get out, but Dean's hand on his shoulder stopped him cold.

"Wait." Dean blurted out before he even knew what he was doing.

Cas turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow, "Yes, Dean?"

Dean licked his lips as his eyes snapped down to look at his bundle of cassette tapes, finally hatching a bright idea. Dean took all of his Metallica and Led Zeppelin tapes and shoved them into Castiel's hands, "Here. When you listen to all of them and finally gain some actual culture and appreciation for good old rock and roll, bring 'em back and I'll introduce you to AC/DC."

Cas gazed down at them like they were fucking gold with wide eyes before he finally uttered softly, "Thank you, Dean."

Dean attempted to shrug casually, "It's no big deal, Cas. My temporary donation just makes this world an even better place to live in."

Cas lifted his gaze to Dean and stared at him with a serious and intense expression, his piercing blue eyes peering into Dean's soul.

Dean's heart sped up and tried to say mockingly, "Cas, not for nothing, but the last time someone looked at me like that…I got laid." He meant it as a joke, but somehow his comment just made Castiel lean in closer, now just an inch away from Dean's face.

Neither of them moved away and stayed in that position for a long magical moment before they heard an annoyingly loud voice call from outside, "Cassie, don't you dare kiss him! You don't know where that mouth has been!"

Dean jerked back and moved his wide eyed gaze outside only to find fucking Gabriel standing on the Milton's front steps with a huge lollipop in his smirking lips. The tips of Castiel's ears burned as he turned his eyes onto his older brother and sent him a murderous look, causing Gabriel to shrug carelessly in reply.

"I-I'll see you later, Dean." Cas mumbled as he exited the car and disappeared through the Milton's front door, clutching Dean's tapes close to his chest and ignoring Gabe's half curious and half pissed off look.

Dean let out a tired sigh and moved to start the car up again, but then he saw Gabriel sauntering over to him, having a bright smile planted on his face. He tapped on the window and made a hand motion for Dean to roll it down. Dean didn't want to but he knew he'd have to do what Gabriel says unless he wants his whole locker flooded with a salt water aquarium (tropical fish included) like he did the last time he dumped Anna.

So he reluctantly rolled the window down and was met with Gabriel's careless smile and deadly amber eyes, "Hi, Dean-o. Fancy seeing you here."

"What do you want, Gabe? I gotta get home."

Gabriel's smile never faltered as he leaned his head into the car and said lowly, "Look, all I'm saying is that if you try to pull anymore kissy moves on my baby bro again, I'll take my time pulling out each and every internal organ, grounding them in a blender, and drinking them through a straw made up from your small intestines." He paused, "Well, except for your bladder and liver organs, of course; that's just goddamn gross."

"I-I wasn't going to do anything like that to Cas," Dean sputtered out, his denial now flaring up as he added, "H-He's not my type. I like chicks."

Gabe chuckled and rolled his eyes, clearly amused, "Okay, Dean. Just answer me one question."

"W-What?"

"How does Narnia look so far deep in that closet of yours?"

Dean clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes at him, "Fuck you."

"I'm flattered and all, but we both know which Milton you would much rather fuck," His face then got surprisingly more sober, "But I'm serious, Winchester. Stay the fuck away from Castiel; he has enough issues at home right now. We don't need a stupid gay relationship screwing up all his progress."

"Progress?" Dean questioned but Gabriel had already backed away and stomped his way inside his house, leaving Dean with a puzzled expression and one big unanswered question.

* * *

**Author's Note: Damn, cockblocking brothers strike even in stupid high school AUs xD. And random side note: I changed the year of Dean's birthday so it would fit that he was eighteen in today's year. But anyway, yay another chapter completed! Thanks again for all of the reviews and please keep them coming. I'm actually having trouble with finding SPN characters that could be Castiel's parents (not his real parents since I already have that planned out but his adoptive parents) so suggestions would be most appreciated (I would hate to create OCs for this story but I will if I must). P.S. To LilyBolt: Shh...spoilers ;) (we'll see more of David later on and you can judge for yourself ;D). And my offer still stands: Any pairings you would like to see in here please let me know and I'll gladly try to fit them in. But until next chapter, my lovely minions!**


	6. It Probably Doesn't Mean Anything

**Author's Note: Sorry that I haven't been updating quickly this time, Guys! It's just that my schooling has recently started and it's been kinda hectic lately (my reading addiction to the Mortal Instruments series didn't help either) so I haven't had time to write. But hopefully you'll think this was worth the wait!**

* * *

When Dean finally arrived back home after dropping Castiel off, he instantly headed toward the kitchen to get something to eat so he could get the boy off of his mind (if that's even possible anymore, that is). Luckily, Mary and Sam were still eating and the food was still somewhat warm. He sat down on one of the table's wooden chairs and started loading up his plate, ignoring the fact that the other two Winchester's eyes were now on him.

"What?" Dean finally demanded after ten minutes of pretending they weren't directly staring at him. They shrugged as their gazes snapped back down at their almost empty plates, causing Dean's suspicion to arise. The two of them have been acting strangely ever since Dean had first mentioned Cas and he wasn't sure why; they've never acted like this when Dean's other friends were over…which is exactly what him and Castiel are: friends. Yes, one perfectly gay guy and one completely and totally straight man that have a mutual relationship that is strictly platonic. Well, if you don't count the two times they were close to almost kissing, of course…

_**No way, I was definitely not close to kissing the guy, **_Dean forced himself to believe, _**I was just…making sure Cas was breathing and all. You know, because oxygen is important and all men move just an inch away from another man's face to make sure they can feel their breath. It's basically in the guy code…well, MY version, anyway. **__Yea, maybe the GAY version, _another cruel (yet totally sensible) voice in his head scoffed. _**Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about, **_Dean's inner voice growled stubbornly to the other, _**I'm just a lot straighter than other heterosexual dudes so my code is allowed to be a little gayer than normal.**_

As the mental battle inside Dean's mind waged on, Sam had already finished his plate and excused himself from the table to go take a shower before going to bed, leaving Dean and his mother all alone in uncomfortable silence.

"So…" Mary began carefully, poking idly at her food with her fork, "Castiel seems nice."

Dean scoffed as he stuffed a piece of pork chop in his mouth, "Just nice? Hell, he makes the freaking Pope look like Donald Trump but with better fashion choices."

Mary smiled at her son's reaction and looked over at him, "You like him a lot, don't you?"

Dean's stomach rolled as he shrugged casually, praying that she wasn't going where he thinks she is, "Um…yea, in an extremely platonic, non-romantic, totally-just-friends sort of way."

"Of course," Mary assured him, causing Dean to finally relax…that is, until she added softly, "But it would be perfectly okay if it wasn't in that way, too."

Dean stiffened for a moment before seeing that his mother was watching him closely so he quickly forced a laugh, "Come on, Mom, get serious. I know Cas looks pretty feminine in that freaking trench coat of his, but he's a guy, and I don't know if you've noticed but I have a specific preference for boobs."

Mary sighed, "Yes, but I just want you to know that it wouldn't matter to me if you didn't just like 'boobs.'"

"You know what? I'm not hungry anymore," Dean blurted out suddenly, abruptly standing up and moving quickly towards the door, "I'm just gonna go to my room and wait for Samantha to get done shaving her legs. Night, Mom."

"Sweetie, I didn't mean to make you upset." Mary told him gently, causing Dean to stopped dead in his tracks and spin back around to face her.

"Mom, why the hell would I be upset? You know I have nothing against gay people." He lightened his tone suddenly as his eyes found the floor, "A-All I'm saying is that I'm not one. Now can we just drop it please?"

Mary let out a tired sigh and hesitantly nodded, "Okay, Dean, forget I said anything. Just go sit down and finish your dinner."

Dean opened his mouth to protest but by the way his mother gazed stubbornly at him with her hands on her hips, he knew he really didn't have any say in the matter. So finally he just closed his mouth and flopped back down on his seat, shoveling the remaining food in his mouth as quickly as he could so finally get out of there and try to forget his mom even attempted to bring up that crazy talk.

"But Castiel is very nice," _**What part of 'drop it' don't you understand?**_ "He's much better than your other friends like that Alastair boy."

"Yea, Cas is freaking Miss America," Dean sarcastically and rolled his eyes before he asked more seriously, "Why are you so focused on him anyway?"

Mary shrugged, "I don't know. He just seems…different from most the people you usually hang out with." She paused, "And it also doesn't hurt that he's a little easy on the eyes either."

"Gross, Mom," Dean complained as he crinkled his nose in disgust, "You're starting to sound like a cougar or something."

Mary laughed and shrugged, "All I'm saying is that if I didn't have your father and I was twenty years younger, I would be all over him like honey on a biscuit."

"It wouldn't matter anyway," Dean said before he could stop himself, "He wears green on Thursdays."

Mary's eyebrows shot up, "Excuse me?"

"Nothing." Dean told her quickly, smiling down at his plate because of his stupid inside joke.

Mary still had a furrowed brow as she opened her mouth to ask again but before she could even utter out her first word, Dean had already put up his place and kissed her goodnight before strutting out of the kitchen and heading back to the safety of his bedroom.

That night, Dean had trouble sleeping and knew a certain pair of blue eyes were to blame. He played back everything Castiel had ever said and somehow it all became more and more curious and confusing every time. He's an enigma, you know. Everyone in this whole damn town would _kill_ to be as spoiled and famous as the Milton children were, so why does Cas treat it like it's some terrible burden? Sure, it wasn't the most loving household since the parents were always absence since they're away on business most of the time (Dean had been told this by Anna and he remembered that he had did a mental happy dance upon knowing the girl had Daddy Issues) but hey, sometimes money _can_ buy happiness. Dean can sure as hell guarantee that his family's lives would be a hell of a lot better if they had a few extra bucks in their pockets to splurge on something stupid every once in awhile.

And what the hell was this "progress" bullshit Gabriel was talking about? _**It could be anything really considering it's the fucking Miltons we're talking about, **_Dean scoffed reasonably in his mind, _**that family is full with psychos. Seriously, Cas is the only sane person in the whole bunch and he's freaking adopted for crying out loud!**_

But if Dean was honest with himself, he would admit that it just wasn't what Castiel said that kept him conscious as his body so desperately begged him to succumb to the persistent and annoying need of sleep…it was his voice; Castiel, a scrawny sixteen year old boy that wouldn't get a dirty joke even if it hit him flat in the face, had the raspy voice of a thirty year old phone sex operator. Sometimes Dean can't help but wonder what that voice would sound like early in the morning or when he was pissed and needed to vent about some asshole he met somewhere or just when he—

_**Stop it, Dean, you're starting to sound like some lovesick fool. And that is what you totally aren't; you're just excited about having a new friend. That's all…**_as his denial finally lulled him to sleep, Dean tried to keep the mysterious boy wrapped inside an enigma wrapped inside a trench coat out of his thoughts. But even though he would never _ever_ admit it aloud, Dean didn't try as hard as he could have to keep Cas out of his dreams that night.

* * *

It felt like as soon as he finally closed his eyes and let his quiet bliss of slumber overcome him, his alarm clock chose to blare right into his ear, signaling that it was already 4:30am. Dean groaned and buried his head into his pillow, "It isn't healthy to be up this early." He was tempted to just ignore it and go back to sleep in his warm and comforting bed, but then he remembered that is wasn't Ms. Eve that he was blowing off—it was Ms. Tapping, whom would probably go on a rampage and never let him see Castiel ever again even if he was just seconds late. Yea, now THAT got him up.

He had already told his mom about her having to drive Sam to school today last night so all Dean had to do was change into his old AC/DC shirt and a pair of new blue jeans his mom bought him a few weeks ago and snack on some leftovers from yesterday's dinner in the fridge before getting into his car and heading to school. He made sure to have the band Kansas blasting through his car stereo and allowed to get distracted from the fact that he's going to have to suffer from life threatening boredom of doing absolutely nothing for the next three hours and _then_ having to go through another whole seven and a half hours of doing nothing _but_ schoolwork. Yea, sounds like hell, doesn't it?_** Quit your whining, it could've been a lot worse, **_a voice that sounded strangely like his father ordered inside Dean's mind. Dean reluctantly supposed that he was right since he could've been going through the exact same hell after school as well if it wasn't for Cas—

_**Dammit, Dean, can you go just five fucking minutes without thinking about that damn kid?**_ No…no, he can't because for a second there, Dean thought he thought he saw a familiar looking tan trench coat on the sidewalk as he passed by.

"Shit, I'm trippin' out." Dean grumbled to himself as he casted a quick glance at his rearview mirror to confirm his suspicions that he's gone completely insane…but turns out, he's not as crazy (or maybe obsessed is the right word) as he thought since he really did see Castiel, who was wearing another fucking suit and same damn coat even though it was seventy degrees outside, packing a dozen textbooks in his arms with no one to help keep them from always slipping from his grasp and falling to the ground. Before he could even give it a second thought, Dean threw his car in reverse. He drove back cautiously until he finally reached Cas and rolled down his window just to prove that he wasn't some creepy pervert who stops kids in the middle of nowhere to help him find his dog in the trunk of his car, "Need a lift, Man?"

Castiel's eyes widened once he saw it was Dean and stared unblinkingly at him for a few long painful moments until he finally uttered, "I-I'm sorry…what?" As soon as those words flew out of his mouth, Cas' face flushed in embarrassment and Dean could practically see the guy mentally kicking himself.

Dean couldn't help but smirk lazily at him, silently relieved that he wasn't the only one who gets embarrassed from time to time, "I was just wondering if you wanted to lug that whole library in your arms another ten miles or just get your ass in the relaxing air-conditioned car?"

"U-Um…sure." The already flustered boy stuttered out as he slowly stumbled into the passenger seat. It was pretty obvious that he wasn't expecting to see Dean this early and was failing epically to mask his utter shock.

Dean grinned widely as he watched Castiel try fruitlessly to get the seatbelt to operate correctly as it kept getting stuck every time he tried to fasten it. He already knew that the passenger's seatbelt was broken and had planned on fixing it earlier in June but after the whole freaking coma incident, he had completely forgotten all about it.

But after watching in entertainment as Cas wrestle the poor thing for almost five whole minutes, Dean just couldn't sit there and be that cruel as he finally gave in and decided to help the poor guy out.

"You keep doing it too fast, dude; you gotta do it _slow _and _easy_." Dean informed him smoothly as he reached over and slowly slid the seatbelt over Cas and buckled him in, his hand accidentally running along Castiel's chest (or at least, he _tells_ himself that it was accidental) as he carefully slid it into place. He knew he _really _shouldn't have, but Dean couldn't resist to tilt his face upward so that it was just inches away from Castiel's and smirked, "You got it?"

Castiel's Adam's apple bobbed as he quickly nodded, his eyes quickly darting to look out of the car window as his body went completely rigid. _**Payback's a bitch, you bastard, **_Dean wanted to sneer as he recalled his own bodily reaction when Cas announced _his favorite color by far _but luckily he managed to bite his tongue as he moved back into his own seat and began to drive again.

"So what the hell are you doing walking to school?" Dean asked coolly, shooting him a sideways glance before settling his eyes back on the road, "Is your family still on strike over me or something?"

"Actually, I have to fight them every morning just to have the privilege of walking on my own," Cas told him, tearing his eyes off of the window to stare hard down at his hands as he admitted, "It's honestly the only time I have to myself without my family constantly breathing down my neck."

"Well, sorry about crashing in on your alone time then." Dean apologized, causing Cas to glance over at him and smile.

"Trust me, Dean, I would much rather spend it in the company of you."

His words stirred something deep down in Dean's chest but he ignored it as he started to fan himself and said jokingly, "Oh Cassie, you're making me blush."

Cas stiffened at the familiar nickname and stayed silently for a moment before he said finally, "Um…yes, I do sincerely apologize for my brother's behavior. He acted very immaturely and believe me when I say that he will say sorry to you personally before the day is over."

Dean arched an eyebrow, "Really? How're you gettin' him to do that?"

Cas started to grin uncontrollably, "I um…_may_ have threatened to tell his girlfriend, Kali, about how he used to have a long-term crush on Willy Wonka."

Dean swerved the car and almost killed both of them because he was doubled over laughing so hard.

"Whew," Dean heaved out after a few minutes of purely cracking up, "It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard," He sobered up a little suddenly as he let out a long breath, "Hell, it's been more than a long time. Years, actually." And it was true; he hasn't had a lot to laugh about for a long time since his parents always fighting furiously with each other every time they see one another and Dean having to comfort Sammy over and over again as they huddled together on his bed and listened to their parent's screaming through the thin walls. That and the bills piling up that are causing them to go further and further into debt didn't help the problem either. But somehow, every time he sees Castiel he just feels like smiling again. But that's just what a good friend makes you wanna do…right?

"You have a beautiful laugh, Dean." Cas told him softly, causing Dean's grip on the steering wheel to tighten and heart to skip a beat. _**Just a friend, just a friend, just a friend, completely and totally just a friend.**_

"Thanks, I guess." Dean finally stuttered out nervously, focusing all of his attention on the road as he willed this painful drive to be over before he says or does something that he might regret later on. There was a minute of awkward silence so Dean cleared his throat and tried to fill the air with the only thing he could think of: music.

"Now THIS is good music, Cas." Dean said as he turned the radio up when he heard 'Carry On My Wayward Son' coming on. Out of habit, Dean started to sing every word with all his heart and soul as the song played on, looking over to Cas every now and then to smile happily at him.

He tried to ignore the fluttering feeling that erupted in his chest as he noticed Castiel watching him intently with an unreadable glint in his dancing eyes.

* * *

When they finally made it to the school parking lot, Dean parked the Impala in his usual spot and got out of the car. He then waited patiently as Castiel proceeded to scoop up his whole arm load of books and struggled to successfully exit the vehicle without dropping any. Dean didn't even so much as it give it a second thought as his arms reached out and brought the dozen of textbooks into his own arms, "Here, I got it."

"Y-You don't have to—" Cas began to say but Dean shook his head and silenced him.

"It's fine, Cas. That's just what friends do for each other." _**Boyfriends sound more like it, **_Dean heard his little brother's voice mocked inside his head, causing Dean to mentally kick the little bitch out of his mind.

Castiel smiled softly at him as he shut the passenger door and looked back at him, "Thanks." Dean shrugged casually in response and began to walk towards the high school, Castiel almost tripping over himself as he quickly stumbled to catch up with him.

"Hey, if you're smart enough to understand what all these shitty books blabber on about, the least I can do is be your manservant for a few minutes." Dean said as he examined all of the textbooks, wondering if any of the titles were actually apart of the English language, "What the fuck is a _Calculus_? Is that like a disease you get from being exposed to a calculator for too long?"

Cas laughed—and it was an easy going, whimsical laugh that made Dean smile shyly back at him even though Castiel was laughing at his stupidity.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing at you," Cas finally chuckled out once he got himself under control, "It's just that I don't hear a lot of jokes directed at my education often. Naomi deems it 'unprofessional and juvenile.'"

"Lucky for her, those are my two middle names," Dean teased with a smile before he sort of sobered up and asked more seriously, "But speaking about you dear ole aunt, who the hell lit the fuse on her tampon?"

Cas sighed, "First of all, it was Gabriel who had thought it would be humorous to set all of her…_womanly products_ on fire and got locked out of the house for a week because of it. But I think you were referring to the figurative term meaning her uptight and strict behavior, so I will revise me previous answer: Naomi and my adoptive father were raised in a heavily religious household with harsh rules and very strict upbringing so they hypothesized that to raise obedient children, they must always go to the extremes of parenting."

"Like how?" Dean asked, his curiosity beginning to get in the way of his goal to be polite and stay out of Castiel's business.

He shrugged, "Um…a healthy diet made to make us fit with only 200 calories of junk food per week, strict bed time seven days a week, getting up at four o'clock every morning with no exceptions, only five hours of television per week—"

"Damn, Cas, they're treating you like you're a bunch of soldiers." Dean blurted out, wondering how the hell _anyone_ could put up with such a tight leash.

Cas sighed, "Yes, Gabriel and Anna don't really follow any of their guidelines and usually just go out just go to their friend's households to do whatever they please. But me…" He trailed off as his gaze fell to the floor, "I've never really had any friends to retreat to. So it's basically the only way I know how to live."

"But I thought you were friends with Peter Pan and his bitchy Tinkerbelle?"

Cas sighed, "You mean Balthazar and Meg?"

"That's what I said."

Castiel rolled his eyes but continued to answer him, "I only met Meg during freshmen year in Home Ec. She was very…_infatuated _with me at the time." He began to smile softly at the memory, "She seemed rather crushed when I had informed her of my true sexuality. But then I introduced her to Balthazar and everything worked out for the best."

"You see, that's another thing: no offense, but you don't look like the drama club type…"

"That is true. I don't really enjoy being the center of attention. Now my friends, however, that's another story."

"So how the hell did you become friends with a pretentious pretty boy like Sebastian _fucking _Balthazar?"

Cas ducked his head as his face flushed a slight pink, "Um…it is a rather unusual tale that I don't want to share at the moment. I believe most people would find it too 'creepy' for their liking."

Dean's eyebrows shot up as he held the school doors open so Cas could enter first before him, "Well, _now_ I'm interested."

Castiel looked uncomfortable as he began fidgeting with his tie as he entered the building with Dean following close behind, "I um…I followed him home one evening."

Dean stopped dead in his tracks and cocked his head, "Come again?"

Cas stopped with him and wore a nervous expression on his face before he dropped his gaze to the freshly polished tiled floor, "Um…i-it was a long time ago actually—seventh grade, I think. It was when Balthazar first spoken up about supporting gay rights since they were just like everyone else except that they liked one thing greater than the other. It was also the time that I was questioning my own sexuality and it was honestly the first time I had ever heard someone refer to homosexuality as anything other than a horrid disease that would damned you to hell. He…he peeked my interest."

"So instead of saying hi and starting a normal conversation like any average, completely _sane _person would, you just decided to stalk him?"

He sighed and did a light shrug, "I wouldn't call it _stalking_ per say. It's just…observing in secret. I do it to people all the time. I mean, I've done it to you plenty—" Cas abruptly stopped mid-sentence and quickly shut his mouth, looking as if he was cringing on the inside at his own words.

"You've done what to me exactly?"

Castiel's face burned as he rubbed the back of his neck and stuttered, "U-Uh…a-anyway, like I was saying, after tracking his every move in the halls for a week and receiving no information that wasn't even _remotely_ important, I then decided to take it to the next level and follow him home after school one day. It went extremely well for the first half of the way, but somehow he eventually found out that someone was following him and it wasn't just his imagination, which was very impressive considering that I'm fairly skilled at keeping my presence unknown when I wish to do so. I had lost him when he rounded an abandoned corner on Main Street and before I could even build up any suspicions of foul play, my back was being slammed to the brick wall as Balthazar pinned me still with one hand and raised his fist to punch me with the other." He paused for a moment before shrugging, "But then he saw that it was only the creepy freak-show from his homeroom that knows more about quantum physics than actually having a normal conversation with an actual human being. He appeared shocked at first—dumbstruck, more like—but eventually, he lowered his threatening hands and asked what the heck I was doing following him like a baby duck for the past five miles. I then reluctantly shared that my people skills were a little 'rusty' and I was merely watching him from afar to gain some understanding of the average social grace. I had thought he was going to beat me up, of course—I mean, that's what everyone else did just when I simply met their gaze—but he didn't."

Dean's brow furrowed a little in surprise, remembering how the British drama freak had once threatened pure bloodshed sophomore year when he saw that Dean had absently chewed on his pen he had lent him (that's actually how their little feud began even), "He didn't?"

Cas smiled and shook his head, "No…he just stared at me for a long time until he finally just broke out into a huge grin. He laughed for awhile, though even to this day I still don't quite grasp what was so humorous, and then he asked where I lived. I told him, he walked me home, and…" He trailed off and stayed silent for a second before he lightly shrugged and finished a bit more quietly, "And he's been glued to my side ever since."

"Ooookay," Dean drawled out as he nodded slightly, "It's not your typical 'How Harry Met Sally' story, but whatever floats your boat, I guess." He paused for a moment before adding, "Now about what you were saying earlier—"

"Mr. Winchester," He heard Ms. Tapping's crisp voice say coldly behind him, "You are exactly two minutes late. Shall I add an extra week to your sentencing?" _Shit._

"Ms. Tapping, it was my fault," Cas told her in a miserable tone as he turned around to face her, his blue eyes filled with remorse, "I was just making sure he had written down all of our progress from the previous night." He then leaned in and said lowly, "You'll have to forgive me, of course; I'm just trying to make the best out of this _horrid_ situation I'm in."

Though it kind of hurt Dean's ego for Castiel to say that, Ms. Tapping seemed to react the opposite and just smiled sadly at her nephew with pity in her eyes, "Yes, sometimes you have to deal with those that are not worthy your time." She looked at Dean condescendingly, making his hands ball into a fist, "Mr. Winchester, since Castiel had only made you late just to make up for your incompetence, I'll let it slide this time. Just don't make it into a habit. I'm not known for giving more than a second chance."

Dean forced a cheery smile, "I'm honored you gave my puny excuse of existence another gamble, Ma'am." He tried his absolute hardest to keep the sarcasm from dripping into his voice.

But apparently he didn't succeed since Ms. Tapping glared daggers at him and opened her mouth to spew out a bunch of shit about "respecting your elders" or something, but thankfully Castiel stepped in and directed her attention back on him, "I truly appreciate your leniency on this situation, Naomi. And trust me, no matter how Dean might act, he's grateful for your infinite tolerance, too." Cas sounded so sincere, even Dean almost believed he really meant it. But there was something dark and hateful in Castiel's seemingly innocent blue eyes that proved he felt nothing towards the woman but pure loathsome as he spoke sweetly to her. And honestly, Dean didn't even know what to make of it.

Ms. Tapping, however, didn't detect his hidden cold feelings for her and just smiled, "It's wonderful that at least _someone_ appreciates my hard work, Castiel. And I advise you not call me Naomi around any educational areas; it's highly unprofessional." Dean seriously had to find it within himself to fight the growing urge to roll his eyes. But you know, of course, that would be _unprofessional_ of him.

Cas nodded soberly, "Yes, of course. I'll make a mental note of it for future references."

Now satisfied with proving her position of power over them, Ms. Tapping nodded a goodbye and turned towards her office, but Castiel's quiet voice stopped her, "Um…Ms. Tapping, I have a formal request to submit for your consideration." _**Damn, those two act like they're apart of some business meeting or something, **_Dean observed silently, noting that he's never seen family members act so distant towards one another.

Ms. Tapping tilted her head to one side but didn't turn around, "Oh do you now?"

Cas licked his lips and nodded, "Yes, permission to proceed?"

"Permission granted." She answered coolly, turning back around to fully face him.

Cas cleared his throat, "I was wondering if you would allow me to study in the detention hall since it has much better lighting than the library. I would hate to damage my eyesight over a long period of time due to reading in dim light."

Her face turned to stone as she sighed, "Does this have anything to do with Mr. Winchester over here?"

Cas furrowed his brow and cocked his head, appearing confused, "Why on earth would it have anything to do with him? We barely even speak outside of our project," He paused before shrugging and adding, "I wouldn't even say we were friend, really; a mere business relationship is all we have regarding towards each other." Each words chipped at Dean's heart one by one until it finally shattered, but apparently Castiel wasn't done destroying Dean's self-esteem as he continued on, "I'm just concerned about my vision is all. I would hate to waste money paying for glasses when the problem could have easily been avoided."

Ms. Tapping pondered his words and Dean hoped she would refuse since he didn't want to be stuck in the same room as the two-faced jackass nephew of hers. But unfortunately, she finally just sighed and meekly nodded, "Very well. But I want no talking between you two, understood?"

"Oh please," Dean scoffed bitterly, finding his voice as he rolled his eyes, "Like I would willingly talk to a guy like _him_."

Dean could've sworn he saw out of the corner of his eye Castiel slightly flinch at his words, but he convinced himself that he didn't care. Because he doesn't. Seriously, he means it this time.

Ms. Tapping nodded and strolled out of the hallway and into her office, leaving Dean and Castiel completely by themselves in the deserted surroundings around them. _**Aw, did somebody get his precious little feelings hurt,**_ a cruel mocking voice inside his head sneered. Dean clenched his teeth and internally punched that voice in the groin.

"…Dean? Dean, are you even listening to me?" Castiel's soft anxious voice finally broke through his mental hissy fit.

Despite every fiber in his being screamed for him to just let it go and forgive him just at the sight of the boy, Dean glared at him and demanded coldly, "What do you want now?"

Cas looked like a kicked puppy that was left out in the freezing rain and instantly Dean felt his heart softening, "Y-You do realize I was only telling my aunt what she wanted to here, don't you?"

"Well, you did a hell of a job," Dean heard himself snap harsher than he had originally intended, "'Cause I sure believed it."

Dean suddenly felt Castiel grab his hand and it was like all the anger instantly drained out of him, "D-Dean, please don't end our friendship because of those lies I told Naomi," He then lowered his voice as if he was afraid of being overheard, even though it was just the two of them within a fifteen feet radius, "She's ruined enough in my life already. Don't let her destroy this, too." _**Yes, and what is this 'this' between us exactly? 'Cause I sure as hell would like to know.**_

Dean couldn't form any words with Castiel physically touching him so all he could do was nod ignorantly, causing Cas to sigh in relief and drop his hand (but that still didn't stop the rapid beating in Dean's chest), "Thank you so much, Dean. But please, what can I do to make it up to you?" _**Well, I have a few ideas—**_

"It's alright, Dude," Dean forced himself to say, ignoring the dirty part of his mind that filled his thoughts with several ideas of _favors_ Cas could do to him (for him, he means. Shit, he means _for_ him!) in return, "I mean, I was an asshole to you at lunch yesterday and you were an asshole to me today. Consider us even now."

Castiel smiled and nodded before opening the door to the detention hall and held it as Dean walked in first and moved towards the back of the classroom. Thankfully, nobody else was in there except for Mr. Shurley, who was sitting at the teacher's desk with his head down and eyes drooped shut. The teacher didn't even stir when they walked in and slammed the door shut, making it obvious that he wouldn't be waking up any time soon. Dean grinned and dumped all of Castiel's textbooks on one of the desks in the very back before plopping down in the seat beside it. Cas smiled back at him as he slid into the desk with the mountain of books on it.

Dean arched an eyebrow and gazed at the textbooks for awhile before letting out a long whistle, "Damn, Cas, you tryin' to outdo Albert freaking Einstein?"

Castiel rolled his eyes, "I am not nearly as intelligent as Einstein, Dean. He was a genius. I'm just—"

"Cas, you are _totally _a genius," Dean told him strongly, interrupting Castiel's far too modest protests, "Trust me, I can tell by the way you talk and all those brainy classes you're taking now."

"I'm not as smart as the rest of my siblings," Cas confessed weakly as he ran a worried hand through his black hair, "T-They're all considered legitimate geniuses, Dean. And me? I'm just now taking the AP classes that the rest of my family had already passed in _eighth grade_! I mean, Anna's taking mostly college courses just in her junior year while I'm only in four. And don't even get me started on how ahead Gabriel is. Seriously, he would've graduated a year early last school year if he hadn't had set Mr. Azazel's car on fire—"

"Castiel, why the hell are you always comparing yourself to someone better when you already do amazing on your own?"

"Because that's all everyone else does, Dean! Have you not seen the hell I'm forced to call home?!" Cas snapped, his pencil almost snapping in half under his intense grip, "Now I don't want to discuss any of my constant failures anymore, alright?"_** They're not failures, Cas, **_Dean wanted to assure him but he knew it would just cause Castiel to be more upset with him than he already is.

So instead he just cleared his throat and switched the subject onto something that has been haunting the back of his mind ever since he heard it, "But anyway, what exactly were you saying earlier back there when we were talking about Balthazar?"

Castiel stiffened and averted his gaze, "I don't want to discuss that either."

"Can't have both ways, Cas." Dean told him, smirking at his stroke of genius.

Castiel sighed in defeat and kept his eyes on his shoes as he admitted quietly, "But you'll think I'm creepy though."

"Dude, last week I found out Uncle Bobby gets a weekly pedicure and has a man-crush on Tori Spelling. You seriously can't get any creepier than that."

Cas looked a little hesitant at first but finally, after seeing Dean wasn't going to stop until he tells him, let out a long sigh and reluctantly began, "I um…well, it all started when I was in fourth grade and you were in fifth. You probably don't remember now, but you once saved me from getting pummeled to a pulp by Tom and Alastair—you know, before you joined the basketball team and became their friend. You uh…" He started to smile, his blue eyes having a far off distant look and seemed to be caught up in the memory, "You asked me why I was wearing clothes that made me look like an old man."

"I said that?"

"You were a very blunt child."

Dean felt himself grinning back now as he couldn't believe that he actually doesn't remember any of this, "What happened next?"

Cas sighed, "After you gave Alastair a bloody nose and Tom a shiny new black eye, you helped me get back up on my feet and dusted the sand off of my clothes." He paused for a moment and shyly stared down at his desk as his sheepishly grin grew larger, "Then I, of course, asked why you—a popular and heroic fifth grader—did all that for me—a shy nine year old that would rather sit in my bedroom with my nose buried in a book than be out socializing with my peers. And you know what you said?"

"What?"

Cas looked up and smiled wistfully at him with a strange twinkle in his eye, "You said that I reminded you of your little brother Sammy and that you couldn't just stand there and watch 'my ass getting handed to me by a bunch of overcompensating dick-heads.'"

Dean busted out laughing but thankfully got himself under control before Mr. Shurley awoken (though Dean doubted that a train carrying a huge supply of dynamite crashing into firecracker warehouse could ever wake the man up), "Damn, I was _badass_ back then."

Cas nodded, "Yes, I thought so too, though back then my thought process was regarding you as remarkable and kind instead any vulgar language."

Dean rolled his eyes but couldn't help but ask, "Is that the end?"

Castiel shook his head, "Unfortunately, I haven't even gotten to the upsetting part yet."

Dean cracked a smirk and propped his head up by his elbow, "Oh do tell."

The blue eyed boy nodded and hesitantly continued, "Well…I was curious of you, of course. I-I didn't know a popular person could be so nice; I mean, in my previous experiences, they were always anything but. So later that day, I followed as you picked up your brother and walked home. It was quite…_unfamiliar _to me that siblings could be so nice to one another when I saw the two of you interacting. It didn't and still doesn't happen often at my house." Castiel's gaze found the ceiling as his fingers started playing with his sleeves and blurted out nervously, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Dean. I was young and it was the only thing I could do to pass the time back then." He paused for a tense moment before he asked softly, "Are you upset with me?"

Dean waited for the tingling feeling of uneasiness to settle in the pit of his stomach but it never came. He waited and waited and waited…but the so called 'creepiness' he was supposed to be experiencing never came and sent shivers down his spine.

Now, usually, if he had found out some kid he barely knew stalked him _and _Sammy, he would be freaking pissed off and the guy would probably never walk right ever again…but it's _Cas_, a boy who would never hurt a fly and got physically sick every time he thought he had hurt someone's feelings.

Really, Dean tried his hardest to be freaked out like he knew he should be, but he couldn't help but feel anything other than flattered that Cas had taken time out of his day just to follow him home.

Damn, maybe _he's_ the psychopath here.

Dean pretended to think about it for another moment before he ultimately decided to put Castiel out of his misery, "Nah, not really. I mean, who _hasn't _stalked a person every once in awhile?" He paused before adding, "It was only once, right?"

Cas swallowed hard and suddenly averted his gaze anywhere but Dean, "Did you know that it took two architectures and fifty construction workers to make this wonderfully strong and dependable building? It was made in 1976—"

"Castiel?"

"You won't like the answer, Dean."

"Try me."

He sighed and closed his eyes before saying quickly in all one breath, "I may have followed you once or twice or maybe seven time."

Dean's eyes widened, "Seven times?"

Cas didn't answer him for a moment before he finally blurted out anxiously, "It took a whole fourteen months to have this school finished. It was set at just ten months, but the opening was delayed two times because of—"

"Cas?"

"Okay, maybe eight counting that last time during the middle of sophomore year…"

"_EIGHT TIMES?_"

"Dean, I told you that you wouldn't like the answer."

He ignored him and continued to stare widely at the boy before he finally found his voice and sputtered out, "What the hell did I do to make to make you so damn fascinated with me then?"

Cas sighed, "That's what Balthazar asked when I told him to drive by your house last year."

"_Dammit, Castiel! How do you not see yourself as a stalker?_"

Castiel's shoulders slumped and looked as though he was pouting as he muttered, "I didn't mean to appear obsessive. I just wanted to make sure you were still the same righteous man I had met on the playground so many years ago. Honestly, I had thought you had turned into a major…'dick-head' as you described it when you started hanging out with those cruel yet extremely popular bullies that used to shove me into trash cans everyday all throughout my elementary and junior high years."

"And exactly who the hell did that to you?" Dean demanded as a sudden uncontrollable rage came over him, "Tell me the names and I'll make sure they know who the real trash is."

Cas smiled gratefully at him before saying softly, "And that is why you have always peeked my interest, Dean. You're incredibly generous and protective of those who are in need of help. I mean, you could be the righteous man God was talking about."

Dean felt oddly pleased and embarrassed at that statement and rolled his eyes as he replied shyly, "Well, if I'm that then you're a freaking angel in a stupid dirty trench coat."

Cas looked vaguely offended, "It is _not_ a stupid trench coat."

"Dude, do you _ever_ wash that thing?"

"Yes…once every few months."

"My lord, Cas, ever heard of laundry day?"

Castiel shrugged, "I usually don't have time to dedicate an entire twenty-four hours to just washing my most favorite article of clothing. I'm always either studying for tests or tutoring minors for extra credit or practicing trumpet for marching season or writing essays for college scholarships or helping Meg and Balthazar with their lines for auditions—"

"Dude, you're making me exhausted just hearing all that shit."

"My family believes that idle hands are the devil's playthings."

Dean rolled his eyes and muttered a 'figures' before he said louder, "Well, no offense or anything, Cas, but your family is a bunch of self-righteous dicks with wings."

Cas smiled, "Yes, that's one way of putting it."

"Okay, but since we were already on the subject of horrible fashion choices, I gotta ask…what's up with the suits?"

Cas furrowed his brow and self-consciously gazed down at his clothes, "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing," Dean assured him quickly, not wanting to upset him, "It's just that it's very…" _Weird as hell. _"…uncommon for a teenager to always look like he's going to a freaking funeral all the times. I mean, you'd have to pay most boys to even attempt to put on one of those monkey suits."

"My father always wore suits," Cas admitted quietly, wearing a sullen look on his face as he started to pick the invisible lint off of his tan overcoat.

Dean snorted, "Yea, but that's because Daddy Milton is a big time fancy senator, not a—"

"Not Mr. Milton, Dean. My _real _father." Castiel snapped sternly as his eyes hardened, "Trust me, there's a huge difference." Dean was shocked at how instantly defensive and angry he had gotten all of a sudden, making him wonder why Castiel's adoptive family was always a touchy subject for him. Because for Dean, it's the exact opposite; you usually can't get him to shut up about his close relatives—always boating to everyone else when Sam or Jo or Ash did something remarkable and impressive, or how awesome his parents and surrogate uncles and aunts are…

And Castiel's family is the Miltons for crying out loud! Seriously, there isn't a person in this town that would at least consider selling their soul just for a spot in that spoiled and extensively wealthy family.

Dean sighed and finally worked up the nerve to begin slowly, "Cas, I know these sort of questions make you uncomfortable and all, but I have to ask…" He trailed off and thought about just saying forget it and leave the subject alone but eventually he built up the strength to force the rest of the words out, "Why do you despise being a Milton so much? I mean, they have _everything_ they could possibly want while everyone else basically gets shit. How the hell is that so bad?"

"In the public eye, we're just a bunch of spoiled rich kids that have the whole world in the palms of our hands," Cas agreed flatly before he looked back at Dean with now cold and vacant eyes as he uttered softly, "But no one will ever truly know what _really_ goes on behind closed doors."

"Why don't you just try telling me then?" He suggested gently, encouraging him to get the unknown heavy load of burdens off his narrow chest.

Cas smiled bitterly as he curtly shook his head and Dean could practically see all the lonely and painful years of misery he's went through in his now dead blue eyes, "It doesn't matter, Dean It's not like anyone will do anything about it."

"I will." The words flew out of his lips before he could even stop them, though this time he didn't mind his big mouth going on its own agenda in this case.

Cas snorted and rolled his eyes, "Trust me, all it takes is one wave of my family's big bucks and fancy title and everything will just go back to normal as if nothing had ever occurred. It's happen before and it'll certainly happen again." He shut his eyes and let out a shaky sigh, "I stopped trying to fight it years ago, Dean. For your own safety, I suggest you do the same."

Dean licked his lips and finally blurted out the one question that's been on his mind a lot more than he'd like to admit, "Cas, that night before you decided to end it all and swallow a bunch happy pills…how did you get so bruised and scarred up like that?"

Castiel's eyes snapped open and he stared at him with a pleading and almost desperate look, and for a moment Dean thought he was actually going to confess what really happened the night of his attempted suicide, but suddenly he froze in place, looking as though there was a war raging inside him…and apparently the other side had won because in a blink of an eye, the pleading look was gone and replaced with a now stony expression.

"No one there would ever try to hurt me, Dean," Cas told him reluctantly, sounding as though he physically had to force the words out of his mouth, "I am apart of their family; adopted or not. I'm very…_fortunate_ to be raised in such a _warm_ and _loving_ environment surrounded by people that truly care about me."

Dean let a small frustrated breath escape his lips as he said lowly, "_Cas—_"

"Do you mind if I trace you, Dean?" The other boy asked suddenly, changing the subject as he moved his other heavy textbooks to the floor so his sketchpad was resting flatly on his now barren desk.

"Hey, I don't know if you noticed but we were kinda havin' a moment here," Dean reminded him flatly before his curiosity made him add, "And why the hell would I let anybody copy down this sweet ass when they could get the free showing any time?"

"Because you're nice," Cas replied coolly and remained silent for another second before he added slyly, "And somewhat of an ego-maniac."

Dean's eyes widened as he stared at Castiel in shock at his wild statement until he could finally stutter out, "What the hell? Just a minute ago, you were calling me righteous!"

The boy smirked and tilted his head mockingly at him, "I received your full attention, didn't I?"

"You're more diabolical than you let on, Novak." Dean told him flatly, though the corner of his lips had subconsciously rose to an amused grin.

"Despite knowing otherwise, I suppose I will take that as a compliment." Cas said as he readied his pencil and looked at him, "Now strike a flattering pose. This is going in my art portfolio."

Dean snorted, "You're also an art nerd? Shit, Cas, are you like the king of all dorkery or something?"

"It's flattering that you consider me royalty, Dean," Cas deadpanned before adding a bit more seriously, "But to your question: yes, I enjoy artery. Is that an issue?"

He shrugged, "No, not really. I mean, it's just a little weird that someone as smart as you would think doodling on a piece of paper was 'productive.'"

Cas rolled his eyes, "You sound just like Naomi did when I was forced to show her my schedule for the year."

"Oh you insult me, Castiel!" Dean cried in somewhat mock hurt (he does have to admit it's kind of offensive to be compared to such a cold-hearted witch though), "Now how am I supposed to pose pretty when I'm so worked up?"

Cas scoffed, "I think you can manage. Now stop moving already. The light is absolutely perfect at this time of day."

"Aren't you supposed to be studying though?"

"I don't really study when I'm here," Cas admitted gently, his pencil lightly tracing the form of Dean's jaw, "I've been coming in three hours early ever since freshmen year and I've never studied once in here. Usually, I don't need to."

"What do you do in here then?" Dean asked as he tried to keep as still as possible.

Cas shrugged, "Lots of stuff. You know, things I'm not allowed to do at home. I stare into space and daydream mostly since my family usually keeps me too busy to even think straight. Used to, Mrs. Eve would sometimes join me and we would talk about politics and educational funding. I used to help her with her taxes once a month, too."

"Dude, you can do taxes?"

"I'm fairly good at numbers, Dean," Cas replied nonchalantly as he outlined the other boy's body.

"So you're like a future holy tax accountant?"

Cas chuckled, "Yes, something along those lines."

Dean smiled at him for a few moments before he finally said quietly, "Cas, you do realize we're going to have to talk about _it_ eventually, right? I'm not letting this go…not like everyone else does."

Cas sighed, "Maybe eventually. But right now, we are going stay in comfortable silence for the remaining two and a half hours."

Dean furrowed his brow, "A whole two and a half hours? Damn, being pretty's hard."

"You have my upmost sympathy." Cas said sarcastically, though his eyes were sparkling with humor, "Now stop changing your expression. It's becoming quite frustrating."

"Draw me the world's smallest violin and I'll play it for you." Dean mocked, rolling his eyes.

Cas furrowed his brow and cocked his head, "Dean, even if I did draw a small violin on a piece of paper, it is still a two-dimensional figure and therefore it is impossible for you to play it. Besides, I doubt you even know how to play an orchestral instrument."

"Speaking to you is like talking to a brick wall." Dean noticed Castiel's even more confused expression at his words and quickly added, "You know what? Never mind. Just shut up and paint me like one of your French girls."

"You are neither French nor female so I will not 'paint' you as such. Instead, I will draw you like you usually look. Will that be acceptable?"

"Like a brick wall. That's all I'm saying."

Castiel rolled his eyes but instead of replying, he just resumed his sketching in complete silence. Dean watched in awe as Castiel, whose forehead was creased with concentration and face mirrored with intense focus, traced every little detail into the drawing, making it much more lifelike and beautiful with every line. It was right then that Dean realized that this was the first time he had witnessed Castiel looking so passionate about what he was doing. He was fiercely motivated and somewhat…happy and content with what he was creating. It wasn't the small sly smile on his face that proved it but it was his big blue eyes that were finally alive and practically glimmering even in the shitty florescent lighting. Dean had also noticed that Cas didn't always look like this when doing just anything—actually, come to think of it, the only time he looks like that is when he looks at Dean…but that probably doesn't mean anything.

Right?

* * *

**Author's Note: Yay, more bonding time between the two! And I must again apologize for not updating this for a whole freaking month and I swear I'll try to be faster next time. But yeah, worth the wait? If you loved it, hated it, had mixed feelings with it, or even felt indifference towards it, I'd love to hear your feedback in the reviews and follows/favorites. Have a wonderful day and thanks for putting up with my shameful tardiness! You guys are too good to me.**


	7. Since Dean

**_Author's Note: So originally this was apart of a much bigger chapter that would've been probably the biggest one yet but it would've taken me a whole other week or two to finish it, so I just decided to break it into two parts. I hope to have the second part up soon (though I still have to finish the ending and then edit it for mistakes) but hopefully this little bit will tide you over until then. And remember, read & review!_**

* * *

The time quickly ticked by as the rustle of the students stomping outside the hallway signaled that their time had sadly came to an end. Dean let out a sigh of relief when he was finally able to move his stiff joints (turns out, sitting still is harder than expected) before he reached for Castiel's sketchpad, "Okay, let's see this bad boy."

"Not yet," Cas said strongly as he batted Dean's hand away and closed the sketchpad shut before Dean even got to see so much as a glimpse, "It isn't finished. I still have to do some minor touch-ups and proper shading before it is suitable for viewing."

"I'm sure it looks awesome, Cas," Dean assured him, "Come on, just a small peek? Seriously, I think I at least deserve that after all the hard work I've done."

Castiel rolled his eyes, "You just sat there, Dean. How is that hard work?"

"Hey, sometimes being my naturally beautiful self is tiring, you know."

Cas rolled his eyes again but instead of replying with snide comeback, he simply just picked up his books and moved toward the exit.

"What's your homeroom?' Dean asked as he stood up and walked quickly to catch up with him.

Cas sighed miserably, "Unfortunately, I have AP Physics with Mr. Roman."

Dean winced in sympathy when he heard the familiar name, "Shit, that guy's a total _Dick_." He paused and waited for Castiel to politely laugh at his failing attempt of a joke, but Cas didn't so much as blink.

"You get it?" Dean asked, feeling pretty sure the boy did (he is kinda smart, after all) but this is Castiel he's talking about, whom wouldn't get a joke even if it hit him over the head, "You know, since his actually name is Dick and…" _**Dammit, Cas, it's not funny if I have to explain it, **_Dean muttered silently to himself.

"Actually, his full name is Richard," Castiel stated seriously before adding in the exact same neutral tone, "But I do suppose he goes by Dick since, as the saying goes, 'you are what you eat,' correct?"

Dean stopped dead in his tracks and jerked his head to stare at the boy with a shocked expression as Castiel's words slowly processed in his brain.

Castiel Novak just told a joke.

And it was actually _funny_.

"It's a miracle," Dean hollered with glee as he grabbed Cas by the coat and exclaimed, "You actually are a human being!"

Apparently, his shouts had finally jolted Mr. Shurley awake as his head flew off the desk and he almost fell out of his chair, "I'm up! Wait, where am I?" His eyes then found the two boys that were standing in the doorway and his forehead wrinkled in confusion, "Milton? Winchester? You're not in my class until seventh period."

"Actually, Sir—" Cas began to remind him that he was in charge of morning detentions but Dean clamped a hand over his mouth, hatching a brilliant plan.

"Sorry, we forgot." He then looked to Cas and slung an arm over his shoulder, "C'mon, Milton, we gotta get to class, right?"

"Um…I suppose," Cas said slowly, his confusion evident in his tone as his eyes zeroed in on Dean's arm around him. Dean grinned at the teacher and half-heartedly did a salute before going out into the hallway, tugging Castiel along with him. It wasn't until then did Dean finally detach himself from Cas and motioned for the other boy to follow him as he walked calmly to his locker. Castiel nodded and followed closely behind as they weaved through the overflowing hoard of students pushing to hurry and get to class.

They were almost there to their destination when Dean was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled into the nearest janitor's closet. After he got over his initial shock, Dean was ready to start throwing punches when the lights flickered on and he got a look at who it was.

"Garth?"

"Sup, Kemosabe," The scrawny sophomore greeted cheerfully with a happy grin on his face, "Looks like you almost forgot our appointment."

Dean furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to ask what the hell he was talking about, but a shy knock at the door cut him off, "Um…Dean, are you alright?"

Dean let out a relieved sigh as he yanked the door open, revealing Castiel standing at the door with the same confusion Dean felt written plainly on his face.

"It's okay, Cas," Dean assured him, "It's just one of my best friend's creepy stalker."

"Stalking is a strong word." Garth said shyly, earning a smile from Cas as he nodded in agreement. Dean rolled his eyes and muttered something unintelligent about "being surrounded by freakin' lunatics" under his breath as he exited the closet and walked back into the hallway, dragging Garth out with him.

And of course, who did he find right behind Castiel waiting for Dean to get out?

"Dean-o, you finally came out of the closet! It's about damn time." Gabriel exclaimed with mock cheer with his arm wrapped around Anna Milton, who was surprisingly not glaring at Dean but staring at Cas with an unreadable expression.

Instead of shooting Gabe a dirty look like he usually does, Dean just smirked knowingly at him and said sweetly, "I have two innocent words for you: Willy Wonka."

The way Gabriel's face drastically changed from amused glee to complete humiliation was so priceless Dean wished he had brought a camera with him.

Gabriel, whose face was now red with embarrassment and a dash of fury, set his murderous glare onto his brother, "What the _fuck_, Cassie? We had an agreement! I even signed a damn _contract_ for you!"

Cas, despite Gabe's intimidating pissed off appearance, looked as though he was trying his absolute hardest to keep a grin off his face as he pointed out evenly, "Actually, our deal was that I would not tell Kali; whoever else I choose to share the piece of evidence with is completely irrelevant."

"Fuck that shit! I watch Law & Order, Bitch! I'm gonna sue you." Gabriel sputtered out and looked ready to fire out even more profanities but stopped abruptly when Anna put a hand on his arm.

"Gabe, as your legal advisor, I would encourage you to not say anymore before Cassie starts filing a complaint against you for harassment." She said seriously but there was ghost of a smile on her face and a humored twinkle in her hazel eyes, "Now I'm afraid you can't take any legal action towards our brother since he had not breached the contract just by telling someone else. You, however, are still obligated to give Dean a formal apology."

Gabe opened his mouth several times for protests and rebuttals, but always shut his mouth soon after. Finally, he set his angered amber eyes on Dean and grounded out sourly, "I…am….sorry, Dean." He looked like he was finished and Dean opened his mouth to say apology accepted, but Gabriel then smirked and added quickly, "…That you're gay for my baby brother and are too much in denial to ever admit it."

All forgiving words Dean was about to say died in his throat as his jaw fell open. Castiel, however, seemed perfectly in control of his voice as he flushed pink and hissed harshly, "That was never in the agreement!"

Gabriel's smirk grew as he shrugged unapologetically, "Hey, all you said was to apologize. You didn't say for what."

"I-I…I…" Dean tried his hardest to form legible words and when he was finally able to, he found himself sputtering out angrily, "Y-You have to proof!" _**Please tell me I didn't say that. Please tell me that was just in my head. Oh pretty please tell me I didn't just fucking say that.**_

But his pleas went unheard as Gabriel beamed and took it as a challenge, "Oh, please let me! Exhibit A: You two don't understand the term of 'personal space.'" He pointed to them and that's when Dean finally realized that he and Cas were practically shoulder-to-shoulder as everyone else was at least a foot or two apart from one another.

Dean instantly jumped away from Cas and tried to ignore the fleeting hurt look that Castiel gave him when he did so. Dean's eyes softened and opened his mouth to apologize, but Gabriel cut him off, "Exhibit B: The eye-fucking we got goin' on here. Seriously, I really didn't think it was possible to make-out with just your eyeballs but somehow you two make it work. Now for my third point—"

"Gabe, knock it off," Anna ordered sternly, scowling at her older brother, "Leave Castiel and his…_friend_ alone, okay?" She said the word _friend_ like it was acid on her tongue and Dean didn't try his hardest to keep himself from glaring at her.

Gabriel looked ready to argue but by the death glare he received from Anna as a warning, he began to pout and his shoulders sagged in defeat as he grumbled, "Fine, whatever. It wasn't much fun anyway."

Anna let out an amused snort and looked down to check her watch, "Come on. We gotta get goin' to World History before the bell rings."

Gabriel sighed and reluctantly nodded, but just as he passed by them to get to class, his hand came out and gave Castiel's ass a hard slap that made the boy jump, "See you in AP Calc, Cassie. Just don't let Dean-o here ogle your ass too much. I mean, you should at least make him buy you dinner first." Gabriel threw a glance over his shoulder just in time to see Dean's expression turned deadly as his teeth clenched in anger.

Meanwhile, Castiel flushed deep red as he watched his brother take his leave, but Dean wasn't for sure if it was in embarrassment or anger. Probably both.

"You're welcome," Anna said with a smile, addressing all of three them though her eyes were solely on Castiel. Dean watched Cas' color faded back to normal as the boy didn't even acknowledge his sister's presence, looking as if she had never even spoken.

Anna's smile slowly wilted away as she chewed the bottom of her lip anxiously for a few moments until a small sigh escaped her lips, "Look, Cas, I—"

"Don't call me that," His words were cold and lacked any sense of emotion, but by the way his blue eyes flared up as he switched his gaze to stare at her proved his clear anger, "Only Dean gets to call me that. Not Michael, not Raphael, not Gabriel, and _especially not you_."

Anna did her best to cover up her flinch at his words but Dean still managed to catch it, "Cas, please don't be like that—"

"We should go, Dean," Cas said plainly, already beginning to walk further down the hall and away from his adoptive sister, "You may come too, Garth." Dean didn't know what was going on but sent a mocking smirk to Anna anyway before jogging fast to catch up with Cas.

Garth gave her a lopsided grin and salute, "Nice meeting you, Red. Sorry those two hate your guts."

Anna appeared almost wounded as she mumbled deniably, "Castiel does not hate me."

Garth snorted, "Yea, alright." And with that, Garth left hurriedly to catch up with the other two, leaving Anna Milton feeling broken, hurt, sad, and irrationally but inexplicably enraged at Dean Freaking Winchester.

* * *

"Dude, what the hell was that about?" Dean demanded once he and Garth fell back in step with Cas.

The boy shrugged, "What was what about?"

Dean made wild hand motions behind them, "That whole pissing match with Anna—"

"What about it?" Cas asked evenly, though his defensive stance seemed to dare him to say anything more.

Now this made Dean shut up about it as he chirped out, "Nothing. Never mind." There was a brief moment of silence that settled over the three until Garth, the one person that Dean wanted to keep his mouth shut, spoke up.

He arched an eyebrow at Dean and motioned to Castiel, "So is this the Cas you mistook me for when you saved me from getting pounded on by Alastair?"

Dean flushed slightly, "I don't recall doing that." He shot a quick nervous sideways glance at Castiel and found the boy looking oddly amused at Garth's statement as he gazed at Dean with a cocked eyebrow and a curious smile.

Dean felt himself grinning bashfully back as he bumped Castiel's shoulder with his own, "Shut up."

Garth noticed the closeness and slightly intimate room between the two and wiggled his finger at them with a furrowed brow, "Um…are you two, you know…"

"What?" Dean snapped as he sent a death glare in Garth's direction, warning him not to elaborate further unless he wants Alastair's harassing to look like a mere doctor check-up when he was done with him.

"Never mind. It's not important." Garth said quickly, averted his gaze, "Uh…anyway, so when are we gonna pounce on the prey?"

Dean furrowed his brow, "What?"

"You know," Garth said exasperated, like the guy couldn't believe Dean had forgotten, "Avenging the beautiful and lovely Jo Harvelle."

A light bulb finally went on and Dean sighed in realization, vaguely remembering what he had told Garth just to get away from him, "Oh yea…Look, just leave it to me, okay? Unlike you, I actually know how to handle these kind of situations."

"But—"

"Garth, face it. You're a living French fry," Dean pointed out, cutting off the sophomore's weak protests, "He will snap you in half like a freaking twig. At least I'll have a fair shot at getting in a couple blows after school today in the parking lot."

Garth looked ready to argue further, but Cas cut him off, "Why don't you just get your revenge on Alastair anonymously so no one will be held accountable for their actions against him?"

Dean looked to Castiel and arched an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

Cas noticed both the boys staring at him now and shrugged shyly before continuing in a quiet hesitant tone, "I mean, you know he's going to try and get payback if he knew it was the two of you messing with him. Wouldn't it be more satisfying and entertaining to see him furious and paranoid since he doesn't know who it was that targeted him?"

"But then he won't know why he's getting punished in the first place." Garth pointed out, earning a nod from Dean in agreement.

"Create a message that explains why he's being punished," Castiel informed him before adding, "Just be sure to not put any specific names in it though. That would just give you away."

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" Dean asked out of pure curiosity.

"I learned it from Gabriel and Balthazar." Cas told him somewhat reluctantly, looking strangely uncomfortable at the innocent question.

"Learned what exactly?"

Castiel rolled his eyes exasperatedly like he couldn't believe he had even asked such a question, "Getting revenge in secret, Dean. They showed me what to do to….certain people that were being overwhelmingly cruel to me."

"Like who?"

"Alastair and Tom," Cas answered very lowly, looking around cautiously for any eavesdroppers that were listening in on their now private conversation, "I'm sorry, Dean. I know the three of you are friends and all, but they did something just _horrendous _to me freshmen year and I finally snapped. Gabriel helped me create the perfect prank and Balthazar aided me in setting it up. It was so long ago, I had almost forgot all about it."

Dean wanted to ask what those two assholes did that was so….horrendous (he doesn't really know what that word even means but he can tell it doesn't mean all puppies and rainbows either), but Garth interrupted him with his own question, "What'd you do?"

Cas smiled weakly, "Balthazar and I _may_ have broken into both their homes in the dead of night and shaved their eyebrows off while they were asleep."

Dean's eyes widened as he stared at Cas in shock, "That was _you_?"

Castiel seemed to sink into himself and nodded meekly, "I know it was rather childish and I apologize if I made you angry with me—"

"Dude, don't apologize. That was _awesome_!" Dean said with a wide grin, slapping Cas on the back in appreciation, "I mean, Al and Tom didn't sleep for a whole month after that! It was seriously on of the best pranks I've seen pulled on those two without the said prankster getting both his legs broken."

Castiel seemed relieved (and maybe a little pleased) at his praise but looked up at Dean in confusion, "But, Dean, aren't they your friends?"

"No. Well…I mean, yea, but it's not like—" Dean had trouble forming the right words to answer him, feeling unable to correctly explain the complicated and conflicted friendship he had with Alastair and Tom, "Look, just because I hang out with those dicks doesn't mean that I actually like them."

"Then why do you hang out with them?"

Dean stayed to respond but suddenly found himself wondering the exact same thing. Why does he hang out with those bastards? He doesn't like them that much—actually, not even in the slightest if he really thought about it. Hell, he doesn't even like Ruby or Bela either for that matter—one's a little too slutty for his liking and the other is a stuck up, manipulative bitch that could actually steal everything in our whole house while you right in the other room without you even knowing what was really going on (at first Dean thought it was kind of a turn-on but it eventually got pretty damn annoying when he'd sleep with her and then find his wallet a hundred dollars short).

But continuously he doesn't voice his true opinions of them and constantly spends time in their unfortunate company since that's the only thing he knows to do. Sure, there are some times when Dean's come close to tell them to go fuck off and never come back but just as the words were about to spew out of his mouth, he'd always chicken out. He's just been around their dumb asses so long, he doesn't even know why he ever thought hanging out with the "cool crowd" was worth losing his self-respect.

"I don't know, Cas," Dean admitted quietly after a long moment of silence, "Force of habit, I guess."

"I used to have habit of collecting dead dragon flies," Garth piped up, earning a look of dismay from Dean as the boy continued, "But then my cat ate them."

This seemed to perk Castiel's interest as he looked to Garth with a look of pure awe, "You have a cat?"

"Used to. It got electrocuted a few years back." Garth replied, shrugging, "But then I got Mr. Fizzles and everything was okay."

"Mr. Fizzles," Dean repeated with a furrowed brow, "What's that? A hamster?"

Garth grinned as he started to dig through his backpack, "No, he's _way_ better-looking." And of all the damn things he pulled out, it was a fucking sock-puppet that looked as though it was made by a freaking five year old, "Say hello to Mr. Fizzles, Fellas."

Castiel leaned into Dean and whispered lowly in his ear, "Dean, are you sure this boy has the mental capacity to be in high school?"

Dean chuckled and shook his head, "Nah, I think teachers just kept passing him so they wouldn't have to put up with him another year."

Garth, over-hearing their conversation, smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "Hey, it's worked so far."

Dean laughed and opened his mouth to comment when suddenly an unfamiliar female voice cut him off, "Castiel!"

Dean saw Castiel's eyes brightened as he spun around in the direction of the voice and smiled, "Rachel? I thought you were avoiding me."

Dean was puzzled and turned around only to find a tall and skinny girl wearing a pencil shirt and blue dress-shirt staring directly at Castiel with a small smile on her face as she rolled her eyes and said, "Of course not. You know I wouldn't be able to do that even if I tried." Her gaze then drifted from Castiel over to Dean and her friendly demeanor vanished as her face went into a displeased frown.

"I see what Balthazar said was true then," She said to Cas in a careful tone as she stared judgmentally at Dean, "You're messing around with the mechanic's son?"

Dean's face tightened but Castiel was the first one to speak as he scolded her with a dash of annoyance in his voice, "Don't refer to him as that. His name is Dean."

"Yes, I've heard about you," The girl said evenly as she looked back to Dean and tilted her head, "You're the boy Castiel has been fixated on, correct?"

What?

"Uh—"

"Rachel, you know better than to believe everything Balthazar says," Cas told her, looking almost defensive, "We're just friends." Even though that innocent statement couldn't be anymore true, Dean felt as if it was a punch in the gut. But luckily, the two were too busy sizing one another up to notice Dean's somewhat hurt expression. But seriously, why was he upset? That's exactly what he had wanted to hear from Castiel's mouth just to remind himself that there was nothing going on between them. He knew this, but that knowledge didn't make it hurt any less.

"I'm sorry, but who are again?" Dean blurted out after a few moments of tense quietness.

It wasn't until he heard Dean's voice did Castiel finally break his glare and look at him, "Dean, this is Rachel Garrison. She's my cousin." He then switched his gaze back to Rachel and motioned to Dean, "Rachel, this is Dean Winchester."

Rachel gave Dean an obvious forced smile as she stuck out her hand, "Hello, Dean. It's lovely to meet your acquaintance."

"Likewise." Dean responded as he briefly shook her hand before letting it fall back to his side again. He looked to his left for Garth to help him out in this awkward conversation (though why he thought Garth could help lessen the awkwardness was beyond him) but found him nowhere to be seen. It wasn't until he looked further down the hall did he see Garth desperately trying to get Jo Harvelle's attention as she deliberately ignored him and continued to keep her entire focus on Charlie.

"What did you want, Rachel?" Castiel asked, bringing Dean's attention back to the dreadful situation he was in.

Rachel smiled and cocked an eyebrow, "What's with the cold stature, Castiel? I thought you were glad to see me."

"I am." Cas assured her before he looked back to Dean, "But as you could see I was in the middle of a conversation. The polite thing to do is at least wait until I was finished conversing with Dean."

"Ms. Tapping sent me to fetch you," She explained cautiously, her tone sounding as though there was hidden meaning to her words, "She wants to talk to you about something."

Beside him, Dean felt Castiel tense, making it obvious that he had caught on to what she was truly saying (though Dean had no freaking clue to what was going on), "Can't it wait until I get home?"

"By the tone of her voice, no."

"So is that your mom or something?" Dean asked her, causing Rachel roll her eyes and shake her head.

"Of course not. Naomi doesn't have any kids of her own. I'm on Castiel's mother's side."

"Good," Dean said with relief, "That bitch shouldn't be allowed to be in full charge of another life form." Apparently, he had said something wrong because both Castiel and Rachel's expressions darkened as they exchanged a silent look.

Feeling excluded and slightly uncomfortable by the sudden change of atmosphere in this conversation, Dean let out a sigh and said, "Yea, I should probably get going before Mr. Henriksen gives me detention for 'loitering in the halls.'" He then looked to Cas and hit his shoulder lightly, "See you later, alright?"

Castiel nodded, "Yes, I will see you at a later time of a day, Dean. Thank you for associating with me as long as you did."

"It wasn't a favor, Cas," Dean told him sternly, "I like hanging out with you."_** A little too much actually, **_he finished silently to himself as he turned around and started walking to his homeroom, though before he was able to get out of earshot, he heard Rachel's loud whispering voice hiss, "_Cas_? Since when did you let _anybody_ call you that again?"

"Since Dean." He heard Castiel answer flatly, causing Dean's heart to swell for an unknown reason.

He didn't know what Rachel meant by "again" but frankly it just added on to the list of things that Dean didn't quite understand about the mysterious and secretive Castiel Novak.

* * *

_**Author's Note: Yay, another chapter! I know this one was a little boring but it needed to be done to create a little insight on Castiel and Anna's very strained relationship (and it is actually a little more important to the whole story line then you would think) as well as to introduce Rachel, who you might see a few times later on. And of course, who doesn't love to see more of Gabriel? But really, thank you all for this wonderful feedback for this fic and hopefully you think this story is getting better with every installment (if so, please feel free to review since I have a bunch of mixed feeling about this chapter since it was so dull and abrupt). But I promise next chapter (teaser trailer anyone?) will be better considering that it contains the following elements: The gang finally meeting Cas, Balthazar being embarrassing as usual, Charlie/Jo, pie and burger sharing, The S.S Destiel, and then Dean being forced to make a tough decision (and yes, I know how this all sounds crazy and doesn't make sense, but you'll find out eventually!). And this is PandoraTheFox signing off!**_


	8. We Just Have A Profound Bond, Alright?

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry, Everyone, I've been neglecting you guys! It's just that since school began, I've had LOTS of homework to do and then I created another Destiel story that you can find on my profile (self-promoting much?), and then I had to finish up on the last book of the Mortal Instruments series...look, I could go on with my many of excuses on why I haven't been updated as much as I would like to, but I know you don't want to hear all that. So just get onto reading then!**

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Dean's classes went by in a blur and soon he found himself once again heading into the lunchroom with his stomach making more moans than an amateur porno movie. Alastair and the others tried to rope him into sitting with them, but after the eye-opening talk with Cas, the thought of selling himself out just to associate with those numbskulls made him feel physically sick. So instead he waved the off and sat with his real friends as he plopped down in his usual seat, waiting for Joanna Beth to get her ass in gear and get over here so he can snack on her homemade lunch (she packed it herself this time since Ellen's still a little pissed about Jo chasing away customers by making a scene and everything Bobby even attempts to cook always turns to black ash in the first ten minutes).

Luckily, he only had to wait just another minute or so before Sam and Jo (along with Charlie by her side, making him wonder if the two could ever separate from each other for the life of them) joined him.

"You got what I ordered, Harvelle?" Dean asked, arching an eyebrow.

Jo rolled her eyes and dug around in her huge paper bag until she finally drug out a greasy burger wrapped in tinfoil with the "Harvelle Roadhouse" logo written on it, "One bacon cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, extra pickles, onion, and thinly sliced tomato in that order."

"And?" Dean demanded, feeling slightly angered that she had forgotten the best part.

Jo sighed as she shoved the flimsy black container to him, "And one slice of cherry pie."

Dean grinned at her as he took a big bite out of his burger and groaned blissfully, "I love you, Jo Harvelle."

"Who doesn't?" The ever so modest blonde replied coolly, earning a quick sideways glance from Charlie.

Sam crinkled his nose at his brother's disgusting food choices, "Dude, do you know how many calories are in that?"

"Do _you_ know how many fucks I don't give?" Dean shot back as he mimicked Sam's tone before promptly taking another bite of his heaven on a bun. _**Praise God for the culinary genius of Ellen Harvelle. **_His annoying little brother opened his mouth to reply when Ash's sudden voice cut him off.

"It's official, everybody," He announced as he flopped down in the seat between Sam and Jo, "I'm in love."

Jo rolled her eyes, "Again? Just last week you told me you were head over heels for the weather girl on channel nine?"

Ash sighed, "That Ms. Toshiba was a babe and we had some pretty fun times on my fantasies and all, but another luscious beauty has now caught my eye."

"Who, dare I ask?" Charlie asked, knowing he wouldn't let it go until he spilled his guts to them.

"The lovely Ms. Pamela Barnes," Ash stated dreamily, smiling like a kid at a candy store just by the woman's name.

"The Latin teacher?" Dean scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Dude, you do know that she's engaged, right?"

"Nope, the wedding's off actually," Jo informed him before Ash got the chance, "Apparently, Pamela caught Jesse screwing another chick and kicked his ass to the curb." She paused before shrugging, "Sucks too since she already got his name tattooed on her."

"So single _and _depressed," Ash said with an unnatural amount of giddy, "Now _that's _my type of woman."

"You're leaving out desperate, too." Jo teased, earning a mocking glare from her foster brother in return.

"Shut up, JoJo. At least I actually admit my love when you haven't even spoken to your crush!"

"What?" Sam, Dean, and Charlie demanded in sync, though Charlie seemed the most shocked.

Jo paled and sunk lower in her chair, "Nothing. He's a lying bastard."

"Joanna and Benny sittin' in a tree, doing a lot more than K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Ash sang cheerfully, causing the rest of the table's jaws to drop.

"Benny," Dean said slowly, his mind still trying to calculate the situation, "Like, _my _Benny?"

"Yes, okay! Now _shut up_!" Jo growled angrily, glaring at Ash so severely that Dean can guarantee that Ash won't be sitting down comfortably any time soon once the two Harvelles go home.

Dean grinned gleefully at this news and until he moved his gaze over and saw one of his best friend's reaction. Charlie was sitting dead still with a blank expression on her face, though looking down at her shaky hands that was fiercely gripping her fork proved that she was anything _but _ecstatic. _**She's probably just pissed that Jo didn't tell her about her stupid little crush, **_Dean thought to himself as he shrugged, _**girls are weird like that.**_

"I can hook you two up if you want," Dean offered, "But it might take awhile. He's still not over that Andrea chick." _**Aka his girlfriend of five years that dumped him for his role model and ex-best friend.**_

"I don't want your help, Dean," Jo said lowly, as if she's afraid someone was listening in even though there's not even a soul in a ten yard radius of them, "I don't want _anybody's_ help either for that matter. Actually, this little piece of information will _never _leave this table, you understand? Seriously, if I ever even hear a peep about it from someone else, I'm going to kick _everybody's _ass whether you're the one that snitched or not."

Dean threw up his hands in surrender, "Okay, lay off the bitchy pills. We get it." He then switched his entire focus onto more important matters, "Hey, Charles, we still on for Mario Party tonight?"

She didn't answer him for a few moments as she just stared down at her plate of "totally not horse meat taco surprise" before she finally said sourly, "I can't tonight. I have to go to a meeting at Moondoor to discuss to discuss this Saturday's battle strategies." Dean raised an eyebrow at the girl's sudden mood change but decided not to comment.

Neither did Jo as she just added cheerfully, "Yea, and after that we're gonna go to an all-night showing of the Lord of the Rings movies, right?"

"Maybe," Was all Charlie sighed out before abruptly standing up from her chair, "I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

Jo shrugged and started getting to her feet also, "I'll go with you—"

"I mean _alone_, Jo." Charlie snapped and before anyone could even think to reply, she was already storming out of the cafeteria.

"What's up with Charlie?" Dean asked Jo, who was the only one that could possibly have an explanation considering she knew the redhead better than anybody.

Jo appeared as confused as he was (and maybe even a little hurt since Charlie had never spoken to her like that before), "I don't know. She seemed fine last period," She paused for a moment before saying, "Maybe I should go after her to—"

"Sissy, what part of, 'I mean _alone_, Jo' did you not get?" Ash pointed out coldly before softening his tone and adding, "Look, she's probably just upset since her mother's birthday is next week."

When Charlie was only thirteen years old, both of her parents got into a horrible car accident. Thankfully, Charlie wasn't with them (she was staying the night at the Harvelle household) but it was like a semi-truck hit her emotionally since her father was killed instantly and her mother was put into a coma. Charlie tried hard to keep her mom on life support but soon the insurance money ran out and the hospital was forced to let her pass. Because of this, Charlie's usually very unstable and depressed around this time of year, so it's best to always stay upbeat and cheery just long enough to distract her until the month is finally over with. But out of all the years Dean's known her, Charlie's never been that hostile to Jo before. Never. Which Dean finds very peculiar but he wouldn't dare ask her about it. That's basically a death sentence.

Sam, picking up on the unwanted tension, thankfully switched the subject, "Anyway, I'm thinking about staying after school Monday to go to try-outs for the debate team.

"That's great, Sam," Dean said in mock cheer, "Just don't forget to bring your pocket protector for good luck."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Wow, like I didn't see that coming."

Jo smiled and laid her hand of Sam's, "Don't listen to that ole Grinch, Sammy, it sounds awesome."

"Yea, soon you'll have dorky groupies from the chess club following you around at the academic meets." Ash added, earning a grin from Dean and a kick under the table from Jo.

Dean opened his mouth to tease his brother some more (because seriously, when does it ever stop being fun?) when a sudden chill went down his spine. He didn't know what caused the strange reaction but he found himself moving his gaze over to the lunchroom entrance. And sure enough, as soon as his eyes switched to the door, he found himself staring straight at Castiel standing there in all his trench coated glory. Cas was joined by Meg Masters and he was apparently listening intently to what she was saying as she chattered on and on. Not entirely in control or conscious of his sudden actions, Dean stood straight up out of his chair and found himself moving directly to Castiel.

"Hey, Cas, wait up!" He called out that made Castiel stop dead in his tracks, dragging Meg to a stop with him.

Meg turned her head in the direction of his voice and smirked once she saw it was him, "Hey, Losechester, you look like shit. Is that the style now?"

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes, "Meg, find a friend who cares." He paused before adding, "Better yet, just find a friend."

Meg scowled and opened her mouth to retort but Cas put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her, "Please, Meg, be nice." Meg rolled her eyes but surprisingly shut her mouth, causing Dean to raise an eyebrow curiously.

Castiel smiled graciously at her for a moment before turning his attention to Dean, "Yes, Dean, did you want something?" _**Shit, did I?**_

"Um…" Dean trailed off dumbly before he finally created an excuse out of mid-air, "I was just wondering how your meeting with Naomi went."

Meg's head snapped to Castiel and there was something other than her usual snark and carelessness written on her face. It looked almost like…worry? No, that can't be it. An evil bitch like that can't possibly feel actual emotions, right?

"You what?" She almost sounded angry at him as her whisky brown eyes fired up, "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

Cas locked his jaw and casted his gaze to the floor, "My apologies. I didn't know you had to know every little things that happens to me."

"Damn right I do if it's—" She stopped abruptly when she glanced at Dean in surprise, as if she forgot he even existed, "Dude, you're still here?"

Dean nodded, "Yea, I wasn't done talkin' to Cas."

She let out a tired sigh and looked to Castiel, "Can you please get rid of your mutt for, like, ten minutes while we talk about this?"

Cas put on a stony expression as he shook his head, "No, because we simply have nothing to talk about." He then looked to the eldest Winchester boy, "Now yes, Dean, what else did you want to talk to me about?"

"Uh, I was just um…" Dean floundered hopelessly as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I was just wonderin' if you wanted to maybe sit with me for lunch today. You know, so you can get away from Meg and the Drama Queen for awhile," He looked around and noticed something off, "Hey, where is Sebastian anyway?"

"He got held back after class since he gave Tom a shiny new black eye." Meg told him simply.

Dean furrowed his brow, "Why the hell did he do that?"

She started to smirk and tilted her head to the side, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were obsessed with my _other_ boyfriend, too."

Dean snorted, "Oh sweetheart, trust me, Cas can do so much better. But you and Sebastian? You two are perfect for each other."

Castiel sighed tiredly, "May I interrupt this war of words please?"

Meg smiled and bowed dramatically to him, "Why certainly, Clarence. I would hate to keep you from rejecting this poor bastard."

"Actually, Meg," Cas said carefully, his blue eyes flickering to Dean, "I was going to accept his offer." He paused as if he had just thought of something before he added anxiously, "You're not speaking of Alastair and his gang though, right? Because if you are, I don't think that would be a great idea—"

"No, no, not those assholes. I'm talking about Sam, Ash, Jo, and Charlie." It's downright embarrassing how quick he jumped to answer him.

But it was worth it when he saw Castiel's radiant smile reappear, "Splendid." He then looked to Meg and his smile dropped as he quickly added, "If that's alright with you, of course. I mean, I would hate to leave you all alone without Balthazar—"

"I'm a big girl, Clarence," She said soothingly in her seductive voice before pausing for a moment and adding a little more softly, "It's you I'm worried." Meg then looked to Dean and poked him warningly in the chest, "Listen here, Asshole, if you try to humiliate him _two _times in a row, your ass is mine, got it?"

Cas sighed bashfully and looked to the ground, actually appearing embarrassed, "Meg—"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Dean answered her just as sternly, not once cowering in his boots like the rest of the male population in this high school would've.

Meg narrowed her eyes and stared him down for a few moments, as if looking for any signs of trickery in his promise before finally sighing and leaning back.

"Whatever." She turned to Cas and pinched his cheek fondly, "You call me when he makes a total ass of himself, okay? I'll make him clean his own blood off the floor."

Cas rolled his eyes and removed her hand from his face, "I know, Meg."

Meg smiled at him and it wasn't her signature smirk of confidence she usually wore, but instead it was a true, genuine smile that shown the love she had for him written clearly on her face that reached even her regularly indifferent eyes. It reminded him of what people say he looks like when he looks at Sam…

"Anyway, laters, Cassie," She said before her eyes found Dean and her smirk found its way back on her face, "I would say it was a pleasure seeing you, but Clarence told me it's not nice to lie."

"Since when do you care about being nice?" Dean asked but Meg was already turning away and walking to her usual drama table.

"Well, that was fun." Dean said sarcastically as he took Castiel's arm and began to lead him to his table. Hopefully his friends won't be _too _humiliating…

But then he remembered who they were and knew that could never be the case.

Dean ignored the confused and curious glances from his friends as Dean made Jo and Ash scoot down one so Cas could sit by him.

"Guys, this is Castiel Novak," Dean introduced before looking back to Cas and motioning to the rest of the table, "Cas, this is my army of minions. You can look all you want but don't get too close…they bite."

Cas seemed to take his warning seriously as he jumped slightly when Jo laid a hand on his shoulder, "Castiel, don't listen to that moron. We're not _that _bad." She then looked to Ash and frowned once she saw the hideous concoction he was mixing with all the toxic food items on his tray that had a shady pink color, "Well…most of us are, anyway."

"I thought your last name was Milton?" Ash asked innocently, though the question made Dean cringe internally at the overly sensitive topic.

Cas, however, handled the question surprisingly well and just calmly stated, "It is legally, but I choose to not be associated with that name for personal reasons. I prefer to go by my real last name; you know, the one I was born with and had in the first place."

Ash nodded, "Yea, I'm adopted, too."

Cas cocked his head, "Where did you originate?"

"Some small town in Nebraska," Ash answered with a shrug, "I sort of went through foster homes throughout the country before I finally made it here. You?"

"Pontiac, Illinois."

Dean furrowed his brow and looked to Cas, "How come you never told me that?"

Castiel shrugged, "You never asked."

"So, Castiel," Jo began, getting in on the conversation, "I didn't know you were friends with Dean."

"I didn't know myself until recently," Cas replied as his eyes shifted to Dean and his lips rose subconsciously into a small smile, "But I would like to think that we have too much of a…profound bond to be called just mere acquaintances."

Everyone tried to hide their growing laughter with terribly violent coughs at the "profound bone" part, but it was as though every surrounding sound was off somewhere in the distance as Dean's green eyes just lifted to meet Castiel's gaze straight on. And just as he caught sight of the wondrous turmoil of blues of all different shades, Dean suddenly felt like he was locked in an inescapable prison that prevented him to ever look away. _**His eyes appeared somewhat different in this lighting**_, Dean observed silently as he noted that in this brightly white room brought out the lighter speckles of sky blue that mixed flawlessly with Castiel's usual ocean colored irises. Dean wondered what other hidden hues are in the boy's eyes just waiting to pop out—

"Dean, you're staring." He heard Jo say in an obviously fake cough, finally dragging him back into reality. Dean jerked his head back (since when did he start leaning into Cas anyway?) and looked to his friends, who were watching him with the same expression of amusement and maybe with a dash of confusion at his actions.

"Anyway," Dean said eventually after a long pause of silence as he cleared his throat and settled his gaze onto his brother, "How has high school been treatin' you, Sammy? Anybody giving you any shit?" Sam opened his mouth to answer but Dean cut him off by adding, "Other than me, of course."

Sam rolled his eyes and frowned (something he does often when he's near his older brother) before replying, "Actually, it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, I don't know why you were so against Mr. Azazel, Dean. He's actually really nice."

"What?" Ash, Jo, and Dean demanded dumbfounded at the same time while Cas just stayed silent and watched the scene take place.

Sam shrugged, "Yea, he's pretty awesome. I've been, like, his favorite student the second I walked into his classroom."

"He does know your last name is Winchester, right?" Ash asked, causing Sam to roll his eyes.

"Yes, Ash. He knows who I am."

"And he likes you?"

Sam nodded, "I guess so. He likes a few other of my friends too like Ava, Jake, Brady, and Andy, but I'm his favorite."

"That sounds dangerous, Sammy," Dean warned him seriously, "You better watch yourself before he turns you into one of his demonic minions or something."

Sam sighed exasperatedly, "Dean, not everything good in life will eventually backfire."

"I believe Dean is correct on that assumption, Sam," Everyone jerked their heads around as Castiel finally became brave enough to add his two cents into the conversation, "Never believe anything that seems too good to be true. That's how most people draw you in and trust me when I say you'll regret it later in life."

Cas looked around to find everyone blatantly staring at them and, thinking he said something wrong, began to sink lower and lower into his chair.

Finally, Jo spoke up first, "Dean, I know this may bruise beautifully huge ego of yours, but I gotta ask," Her eyes flickered to Dean as she leaned in, "How the _hell_ did someone like _you _end up befriending this amazingly intelligent human being?"

Dean scowled and kicked her from under the table, "Shut up."

"I don't understand why he wants to be in my feeble presence myself," Cas told her as he shrugged, "But I suppose you shouldn't look a gifted horse in the mouth," He thought about it for a moment before turning his gaze to Sam, "It seems I have contradicted myself by that statement, which means that my input on our previous conversation should probably not be taken to heart. My sincerest apologies, Sam Winchester."

Sam smiled and opened his mouth to reply, but Charlie's normal upbeat voice interrupted him, "You kidnapped someone while I was gone?" She asked as she plopped back down in her usual seat and pretended to pout, "Man, I always miss the fun." Dean could've sworn he saw Charlie's eyes look a slight pink color as if she'd been crying but he knew he was probably imaging it and pushed that thought aside.

Castiel's eyes widened as he looked to Dean and said slowly, "Do you take people with you against their will for entertainment often?"

"Nah, only on Fridays." Ash replied nonchalantly, sending the terrified boy a devilish grin.

Dean rolled his eyes and looked to Cas, "Don't listen to that jackass," He paused before adding with a smirk, "We do it on Tuesdays, too."

Castiel saw the humored smile on Dean's face and he sighed in realization, "You all are joking, aren't you?"

"Aw, and I thought we were doing such Broadway worthy performances!" Charlie said with a pout, earning a dopey smile from Jo though the redhead simply refused to even cast a glance at her, which Dean would find strange if he could keep his eyes off Castiel for one freaking minute.

Then the rest of the table went into a deep conversation about World Of Warcraft while Dean just smirked at Cas, "So…finish that beautiful portrait of that amazingly attractive male yet?"

"Patience is a virtue, Dean Winchester." Castiel said with a tired sigh, though there was a small smile planted on his lips as he spoke.

"So you agree," Dean began with a devilish smile and an arch of an eyebrow, "I am an amazingly attractive male?"

"Obviously," Castiel stated exasperatedly with a roll of his eyes, "I'm not blind, Dean."

Dean had expected some sarcasm or mockery, but this was something that seemed to knock the breath out of him. Sure, he knew he was handsome, of course; hell, he has a whole freaking fan club to prove it. And if it had been anyone else that gave him the offhanded compliment, he would've answered them with a confident smirk and cocky response. But when Cas said it like it was the most obvious thing in the whole universe, well…it made Dean blush heavily like a little school girl.

Shit, what the hell was happening to him?

Dean averted his gaze and just pretended to be greatly invested into staring at his burger, causing Cas to furrow his brow and look around the table anxiously, who all had stopped talking to stare at them, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable. I meant it simply as just as an innocent statement like how I would find a landscape compelling or a sunset beautiful." Dean finally pried his eyes off his food and lifted his gaze to see Jo covering her mouth to hide her shit-eating grin.

"Shut up, Harvelle," Dean said as he subconsciously raised his hand to rest comfortably on Castiel's shoulder, "He, just like everyone else in this world, can't help but be a victim of the Winchester charm." And with an arrogant wiggle of eyebrows from Dean to prove he was joking, the atmosphere around the table lightened as the growing tension melted away. Dean internally sighed with relief and took another bite of his burger, smiling blissfully in content. His eyes drifted to Castiel as he swallowed and finally noticed that Cas was the only one at the table that didn't have a single item of food in front of him.

"Dude, no wonder you're as scrawny as a pole," Dean said as he held his burger out to him, "Here, have some."

Cas looked mesmerized by the meat but had enough willpower to weakly shake his head, "No, Dean, that wouldn't be fair. It's yours." He paused before casting his gaze downward and adding, "Besides, I don't know if I'd even like it."

"Well, you like burgers, don't cha?" Dean asked, causing Cas to duck his head in embarrassment.

"I've never had one," He admitted softly, "Naomi doesn't allow me to have such greasy and non-nutritious foods in risk of ruining my perfect health."

Dean felt his heart squeeze in sympathy, "Damn, she's one hell of a bitch."

"You seem to say that often." Castiel said with a smile, finally raising his gaze to settle contently on Dean's face.

"Hey, I'm just stating facts," Dean said with a shrug before sticking the burger further in Cas' face, "Now c'mon, try it." He smirked and added slyly, "I want to be the one to take you burger-ginity."

Like expected, the failed attempt of a perverted joke went right over Castiel's head as the boy subconsciously took a huge whiff of the intoxicating scent of freshly grilled cow meat and sighed, "You're trying to tempt me, aren't you? Like how the serpent tempted Adam and Eve with the forbidden fruit that resulted in them getting thrown out of the Garden of Eden."

"Dude, did we seriously have to bring naked people acting like rebellious teenagers into this conversation?" Dean joked before he said more soberly, "But seriously, Cas, try this before I pin you to the ground and shove it down your throat." One look at Dean's stern face and Cas knew he wasn't kidding either.

The boy sighed in defeat and reluctantly took the greasy burger into his hands, "As much as I would love to see you try, I suppose one bite can't hurt," He paused and looked at it thoughtfully before adding, "Actually, it is going to damage my cholesterol by clogging up my veins with this heart-attack on a bun, but I think you know what I mean."

"Cas," Dean began with a roll of his eyes, "You know I love your pointless ramblings as much as the next guy, but I'm starting to get a little impatient here."

Castiel nibbled his bottom lip in a way Dean _so _didn't think was adorable before he reluctantly took a small bite of the cheeseburger. Dean watched in awe as he saw Castiel's eyes light up when the flavor hits his taste buds and he suddenly felt a strange feeling in his chest. As Castiel finally swallowed, Dean reached to retrieve it for himself, but then Cas took an even bigger bite and closed his eyes as a dreamy smile found its way on the boy's lips. Cas let out a moan of absolute pleasure and this time the "strange feeling" didn't happen in his chest but instead in a more…southern location that Dean is too humiliated to even identify (let's just say he had to think up an image of Uncle Bobby naked for his…manly parts to finally return to normal).

"This is simply divine, Dean." Cas said with a full-blown grin once he downed his last bite, "Who knew that indulging in temptation could be so…rewarding."

"That isn't even the best part, Cas," Dean said with a matching smile as he whipped his pie out and put a big portion of it on his fork before raising it to Castiel's mouth, "Here, have a little slice of heaven."

Dean tried to direct his attention elsewhere but he still found himself staring hungrily at Castiel's lips as the boy slipped the fork into his mouth. Dean was so focused on watching Castiel's reaction that he didn't even notice the whole table was watching the two with bewildered expressions.

"Dude, did Dean just share his pie?" Sam demanded in a whisper, but Dean was so in his own little world that he probably wouldn't have heard him even if he shouted it to the rooftops.

"Quick, somebody hoist the sails," Charlie said evenly before she let out a squeal, "Because I am _so_ on board with this ship.

"I can see it now," Ash said with a happy sigh, "The S.S. Destiel. Population: everyone who has eyes."

Dean smiled, oblivious to the people around him, and raised an eyebrow at Cas, "So?"

"I haven't had pie since I was seven," Castiel said so softly only Dean heard him, "My mother…she used to bake one every Sunday after we got home from church."

"Why did she stop?" Dean asked, causing Cas to get a sullen look on his face.

"She didn't," Cas said in a plain tone as his gaze shifted to the ground, "I'm just not there anymore to taste it."

"She's still alive?" Dean said in surprise before cursing himself for his insensitivity, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

Castiel shrugged and gave him a weak, forced smile, "It's okay. I haven't thought about her for awhile now. We don't speak much."

"Why's that?"

"Life got in the way," Castiel said and went quiet for a moment before adding bitterly, "And I suppose Naomi and Michael blocking all her calls and hiding all the letters she sends me doesn't help the matter either."

Dean's eyebrows knitted together and he opened his mouth to reply when he heard _him._

"Cassie?" He heard the obnoxious British voice behind him ask in confusion and suddenly the whole table turned their gazes to Balthazar, whose eyes were trained solely on Castiel, "What the bloody hell are you doing sitting next to…" His eyes found Dean and they narrowed, "…_him_."

Dean forced a smile and leaned back from Castiel (since he just now noticed how much he was in the other dude's personal space….not that Cas seemed to mind much), "Sebastian, a pleasure as always." He then arched an eyebrow when he caught sight of Balthazar's bruised knuckles, "What happened? Somebody say Grease 2 was better than the original?"

Balthazar smiled (though it looked like more of a sneer) and said evenly, "Dean, as Shakespeare once said in _King Lear,_ 'Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood.'"

Dean arched an eyebrow, "Wanna speak a little English here?"

"It means fuck off in theatre talk." Jo informed him, earning a smile and wink from Balthazar before he turned his attention back on Cas.

"But seriously, Cassie, why the hell are you sitting here? Did Meg freak you out that much when she suggested a threesome?"

Everyone's eyes widened in shock (though Dean's were more in horror) and Balthazar just couldn't keep his cool demeanor as he busted out in laughter, "You chaps are a little mug, aren't you?"

"Balthazar, what do you wish to say to me?" Castiel asked, heat rising to his cheeks in embarrassment.

The Brit pretended to pout, "Why? Gotten bored of me already?"

"Balthazar…" Cas began warningly, making the British boy roll his eyes and sigh.

"Look, I was just curious why you would rather sit next to this wanker than your own best friend."

"Best friend," Dean repeated sourly before he could stop himself and arched an eyebrow, "Is that a self-given title?"

Balthazar smirked, "Aw, the little bloke's jealous. That's cute."

"Hey, at least I'm not clinging onto Cas like a freaking octopus every time I see him." Dean hissed, making Sam finally speak up.

"Um…no offense, Dean, but you kinda do do that."

Dean's head jerked around to glare at his brother, "Whose side are you on anyway?" Sam held up his hands in surrender but the little bitch didn't even try to wipe the smirk off his face.

Dean was so focused on giving his brother dirty looks, he almost didn't hear Balthazar whisper lowly in Castiel's ear, "Cassie, if this tosser's holding you captive here, I can break out my jujitsu skills—"

"I am not being imprisoned here, Balthazar," Castiel said plainly, rolling his eyes, "I'm sitting here at my own free will."

Balthazar's eyes widened as he gazed at Castiel with a horrified expression. He jerked back and addressed the whole table with eyes wide as saucers and with almost life-like terror (after all, he is an actor), "You redneck _animals, _what have you done with my antisocial and alienated Castiel?!"

Dean tried his best not to react when Balthazar said "my Castiel" but by the knowing and slightly teasing look her received from Jo, it was obvious that he had failed.

Cas sighed, "Balthazar, we can discuss this later. But right now, I'm sitting with De—I mean, them for the time being."

Balthazar let his act drop as he stared blankly at him for a moment before his eyes widened in realization as his lips slightly lifted upward, "Well, fuck me. It's true."

Dean furrowed his brow, "What's true?"

Balthazar opened his mouth to answer but Cas shot him a warning look that made the Brit shut his mouth, though his shit-eating grin remained intact, "Nothing, Mate, just…nothing."

"Cas, what was he about to say?" Dean demanded as he turned to look at Castiel, who had shrugged innocently in response.

"Well, it seems that I have overstayed my welcome," Balthazar said as he bowed goodbye, "It's been a ball but I have to depart before Meg starts throwing punches when my friends ask her again what he favorite Ancient Greek play was." He then looked directly at Cas and grinned wickedly, "Cheers, _Cas_," He said Dean's nickname for him with mockery laced into it, as if he was teasing his friend but Dean wasn't sure how, "Give me a bell later for all the juicy details." And with that, he gave them a salute and sauntered off back to his table which, Dean had noticed, that Rachel was at as she stared over at him with curiosity in her gaze.

Dean tore his eyes off of the drama geeks and focused back on Cas, "Well, that was fun."

Castiel, who had his eyes glued down to the table, finally lifted his gaze to Dean, "I apologize; Balthazar can be quite…overwhelming to deal with at first."

"Are you kidding? He's freaking awesome!" Ash exclaimed, "Anybody who can make Dean that pissed in only five minutes deserves a freakin' golden globe."

"He didn't piss me off," Dean lied blatantly as he shrugged, "He just…makes me want to rip his head off every time I see him. I mean, how such a cheeky asshole got be friends with someone like Castiel is beyond me." He meant for his last statement to just be in his head, but by the way everyone was staring at him with a smirk proved he had let his lips take control.

"What?" Dean demanded in an insecure tone, "It's true."

Castiel narrowed his eyes at him and cocked his head, "Are you complimenting me or insulting Balthazar?" _**Both, **_his thoughts screamed.

"Neither," Dean said instead, ignoring his brain that seemed obsessed with Cas (not Dean, of course, just his brain. Dean's feelings for Castiel aren't obsessive, they're just…shut up, it'll come to him eventually…), "I was just stating a fact."

Jo grinned and Dean could tell she was about to say something that he would have to kill her for, and because he thinks that homicide is never the answer, he looked to Cas and asked something before Jo could even get the first word out, "So, Cas…you remember when you told me that everyone has something in it for them when they befriend you?"

Cas nodded, "Yes, other than you apparently. Which I'm still indecisive about."

Dean ignored his last statement and just continued on, "So what's in it for Balthazar?"

Castiel went silent for a moment, looking like he was thinking hard about his question and was trying to figure out how to answer it. Dean's shameful to say he was sitting on the edge of his seat waiting for his reply until Cas just shrugged and said, "I suppose I just simply amuse him." Okay, not the answer he was expecting.

Dean felt himself become slightly angry at Cas' statement as his eyes narrowed and his jaw locked, "So you're just a toy to him?"

Castiel rolled his eyes and sighed, "No, Dean, of course not. I mean that he is…'fascinated' by me, I suppose. An alien specimen under observation is perhaps a more suitable comparison."

His stomach lurched and Dean couldn't help but spit out, "Well, are you _fascinated _by him?"

"I once was, yes," Cas admitted breezily before adding, "But now I've come across a creature far more interesting than a Broadway British boy."

"And who would that?"

"A wayward son." Cas answered simply before picking up the empty plastic pie container and getting up to carry it to the trashcan.

As Castiel's words processed into his mind, Dean found himself breaking out into a slow grin as he took another meaty bite out of his hamburger. He looked up to see his friends' confused and slightly awed expressions as they stared at him. He furrowed his brow and asked with half a mouthful, "Whaa?"

"When you two get married, can I be the maid of honor?" Jo asked bluntly.

Dean choked on his food.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Dean heaved out once he got his coughing somewhat under control after a few moments of almost dying.

"Wait, which one would be in the dress?" Charlie asked, ignoring Dean almost on his deathbed.

"By the way he was acting when Cas came over to the house last night, he definitely doesn't deserve to wear the pants in the relationship."

"Shut up, Sam! Everybody knows you're the biggest chick at this table!" Dean snapped, praying that Cas won't return until he successfully puts muzzles on all his friends.

"This is so awesome!" Charlie exclaimed with absolute giddy, "I now have my own gay best friend!"

"I'm not gay," Dean snapped in an angry tone, "We just have a profound bond, alright?" He paused, "Wait, that didn't come out right."

"What didn't come out right?" Castiel asked with a tilted head as he sat back down.

"Nothing, Castiel," Jo told him sweetly, "We were just wondering if you wanted to sit here with us again on Monday."

"Is Dean going to sit here?" Cas asked, causing everyone's grin to widen as Dean flushed slightly.

"I don't know," Ash said before switching his gaze to Dean, "Are you, Winchester?"

"Yea, I am." Dean confirmed in an anxious tone, praying this lunch period would end soon so he can get out of this horrid nightmare.

Cas smiled at his answer and nodded, "Then yes, I would love to." Apparently, the boy didn't see anything wrong with his innocent question but Dean, however, knew he won't be hearing the end of this in a _long _time.

As Sam opened his mouth to further Dean's humiliation, the bell finally rang and the eldest Winchester son felt as though the heavens had just opened up. _**Saved by the bell, **_he praised silently.

Not wasting a second, Dean stood up out of his chair and laid a hand on Cas' shoulder, "That's our cue. Come on, Cas, let's go."

Castiel nodded and stood up to follow him, "Okay, Dean."

And as Dean dragged Cas out of the cafeteria and into the direction of the Latin classroom, Charlie sighed happily, "Oh yea, I'm so making this ship canon even if it kills me." Ash and Sam chuckled as they said their goodbyes and made their way to their separate fifth periods.

* * *

"Charlie, are you mad at me?" Jo asked as the two made their way to French class.

Charlie went silent for a moment before she finally looked to Jo and forced a smile, "Of course not, JoJo. I'm just a little…shocked at your confession of love for Benny."

Jo blushed as she mumbled, "I didn't confess my _love _for Benny. It's just a crush. I'll get over it soon enough."

"Good," Charlie said aloud as she smiled at her best friend, "You deserve so much better."

"Thanks." Jo said offhandedly and then went on to talk about something that had happened at the Roadhouse last night, completely oblivious to Charlie that was staring straight at her wondering if the blonde girl was either more thick-headed than she thought or was just ignoring Charlie's obvious feelings for her in hopes that it's "just a crush and she'll get over it soon enough."

Charlie's hoping it isn't the latter.

* * *

**Author's Note: So...everything you wanted it to be? And before you say anything, it turns out that I had miscalculated and apparently Dean being forced to make "a tough decision" is _next _chapter. Sorry, that was all me, but I'm going to make up for it by writing next chapter almost entirely from Castiel's point of view! Yes, I know, I spoil you guys xD. And to repay me for my total awesomeness (egomaniac much?), you guys should review! Like, right now. Please?**


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